


Underwater Bonds

by gummyrubi



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: Ace judai strikes again, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, and whatever jim and david might or might not be, bc why not, fanart!, hints of other ships!, i said hints and i went ahead and made all them ships be real obvious in the end, like maybe valentine and proship haha, mermaid au, spiritshipping, this fic now has fanart!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-24
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-02-20 04:57:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13139535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gummyrubi/pseuds/gummyrubi
Summary: The one where Johan and Judai, two mers from different pods, are soulmates.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written for this ship in about 7 years and here I am writing more for them lol. (I used to write a whole [bunch](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1535337/Monkey-and-Cookee) on ffnet but that was a lifetime ago lol)  
> This ship is forever one of my otps so I thought I'd write more for it someday and here's a new chaptered fic, I hope you like it and thank you for reading! Updates might be a little scattered but hopefully I'll get the next chapter out soon :D  
> Come find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/gummyrubi) or on [tumblr](https://chocomonki.tumblr.com) to talk spiritshipping with me! :D

Chocolate brown eyes peeked out of the surface of the water, darting around to make sure no one was nearby.

The rest of his head popped out once he saw the coast was clear and he laughed, enjoying himself. He was going to win this game of hide and seek.

He swam slowly, his powerful tail easily taking him with the current. He knew he was in an area a little out from his pods’ bounds, but he figured it would be fine. He didn’t plan to be gone long anyway.

He was a curious mer; his pod far enough from land that he always wondered, dreamed about it, but close enough that the could see the stretches of land from the safety of the sea.

His gaze went upward to the full moon and glittering stars high above the ocean. He floated on his back now, tail lazily coming to a stop as he rested, the stars reflecting back in his eyes, on the water. It was so calm here, like this, and he kind of hoped he wouldn’t be found anytime soon. He closed his eyes, arms out beside him as half his body stayed above the surface. He didn’t need his periphery vision to be aware that clouds were rolling in from the north. He could feel the changes in the atmospheric pressure—minute, but there. He could smell the scent of oncoming rain permeating around him, beyond the saltwater scent he was accustomed to.

He took in a deep breath of air—the gills on the side of his neck twitching at the sensation—and wondered how long before his friend called off the game.

He snapped out of his reverie in an instant, eyes opening as he flipped backwards into the water again, ears on alert for that same sound again.

It sounded familiar, like the clicks mers used to communicate long distances or figure out their surroundings. But it wasn’t someone he recognized.

He dove deeper underwater, eyes immediately searching for the source of the sound. He didn’t feel threatened by whatever he was hearing but it was enough to pique his interest. He readied his claws just in case whatever he heard wasn’t friendly. He was one of the best hunters in his pod, even if he didn’t look like it; no one would be able to sneak up on him.

He slowly swam, his tail tense and ready to help him fight or flee.

And then—something bright and blue and mesmerizing appeared not too far off, the creature slowly but surely making its way towards him.

He prepared to send a warning click when he heard the creature call out first, the same familiar sound as before.

But he was sure he’d never heard that call coming from someone in his pod before.

He sent out an answering click and startled when the creature—a mer, a beautiful mer— sped up and in an instant, circled around him so fast all he could see was the trail of bubbles left behind.

But then the mer stopped right in front of him, a big smile on his face, completely unaware of the danger he’d nearly gotten into.

Or not, because he never once moved his claws to swipe at the newcomer. He just stayed there, watching him.

(Art by [cinnamonconi](https://twitter.com/cinnamonconi))

He really was beautiful. He had pale skin, inviting green eyes that in the dark of the water glittered and shined like fluorescent jewels. His hair was blue and in wild spikes; it was a blue just a shy shade darker than the blue of the ocean. His torso looked strong, the muscles in his arms defined to perfection. And his tail, incredible. A blue just a half-shade darker than his hair but with light blue and white markings and dots that decorated it. The same markings around his neck and arms and stomach. Where the pale skin merged with his tail was a fluid shift in colors of blues and whites. The fins on his tail were large and sheer, looking like frills or ruffles in a soft near lavender color that gracefully moved through the water. This beautiful mer had a tail just a little longer than his own, and it looked every bit as powerful.

While he was admiring the newcomer, he had said something. He tilted his head to the side a bit in question.

Green eyes looked curious before they lit up and the mer sent out a hesitant click, like before. After he immediately received a reply, he smiled.

“My name’s Johan,” he said, now in his language. He swam closer now, keeping very little space between them. “What’s yours?”

“Judai.” He replied, without even noticing that they started swimming together, face to face as they moved slowly through the water. Judai didn’t even notice himself reaching his right hand out to lay over Johan’s heart as the other mer let him, the two swimming in sync. Johan waited a moment before reaching out his own hand and mimicking the gesture as they came to a stop in the middle of the ocean, in unknown territory for both of them.

Judai didn’t know why he started this or why Johan had down the same—why was he even letting this strange yet beautiful mer he’d never seen before this close?

And then he saw Johan light up.

The markings on his skin, even his eyes and fins, they started to glow a light, electric blue.

“I have this weird feeling,” Johan began, unaware that he was glowing, “that it’s almost like this isn’t the first time we’ve met.”

“Yeah,” Judai replied, eyes never leaving Johan’s, “I feel the same way too.”

And then he started glowing too.

Judai looked very different from Johan. Where Johan looked like a sea goddess had given him all the beautiful colors of the ocean, Judai was colored more in reds, the goddesses had sensed his red-blooded nature even before he took his first breath. His eyes were a chocolate brown, his hair two-toned, brown at the bottom and more of a golden color on top, just a short mop of hair. Judai was lean, a different muscular built from Johan. His tail was built for speed, powerful and a shade of vibrant red akin to that of a shining ruby. His colors weren’t for stealth, they were so his prey would see him coming, that startling red that would spell their doom. His fins were sleek and looked sharp (and they were)—one look at him proved he was deadly. Where the skin met his tail was a smattering of red and gold spots and markings that were matched on his arms and neck.

And his fins and markings that started glowing too, they turned a bright, fluorescent pink.

They didn’t even notice they had slowly started to swim in a circle together, hands pulling away from their hearts and joining together instead.

They were literally a bright beacon in the middle of the ocean like this, but the two swam together, getting closer and closer until their noses were nearly bumping together.

“Judai!”

And the moment shattered in an instant, Judai’s glowing fading out as he looked away from Johan whose own glowing also started to fade. Judai saw a familiar mer making its way towards them, an angry look crossing his face when he noticed how close the new mer was to Judai.

The mer’s eyes narrowed further once he caught up to them and saw their still joined hands. “Judai, you’re way out of our pods’ bounds! I was worried you’d get lost!” He didn’t even acknowledge the other mer as he took Judai’s other hand and started to pull him away.

Judai didn’t budge, easily stronger than his smaller friend. “Sho, this is Johan.”

Sho, a much smaller mer than either of them yet still appearing close to their age, with light blue hair and tail with yellow stripes, gave Johan an unimpressed look. He ignored him and looked back at Judai, “You’ve been gone too long and the pod was starting to get worried,” he yanked on Judai’s hand again but huffed in exasperation when he didn’t move. “We gotta go back.”

Judai pulled his hand out of Sho’s grasp waved his worries away with a smile. “I won’t get lost, you can go back, I want to hang out with Johan.”

The mer bit his lip at Judai’s words, looking happy. “Have you been in this area? There’s this really cool cave not too far from here—”

“Judai, if you don’t come back with me Ryou’s gonna send out a search for you.” Sho interrupted, turning his back to Johan so Judai would only focus on him.

Judai rolled his eyes. “Ryou worries too much, I’ll be fine.” He suddenly grinned. “Guess I won our game of hide and seek.”

Sho crossed his arms over his chest, finally turning so he could give this new mer a look that said “fix this.”

Johan frowned, his scales seeming to darken in color. “Maybe I should go back so you can go to your pod.” He tried to release his hand from Judai’s but the red mer only gripped it tighter.

“No!” His tail twitched, surprised at his own outburst. “I just found you…”

Johan’s scales seemed to return to normal as he smiled, swimming forward so that he could press his forehead to Judai’s, their eyes locking. “We can come back and meet here. Or I’ll find you.”

Sho startled at this surprisingly intimate display before him. He narrowed his eyes, about to send a warning click out to the new mer because how dare he think he can act so familiar with Sho’s best friend—he barely let Sho get close to him and they’d known each other since they were very young—

When he saw Judai practically melt into the other mer’s touch, his tail curling in content as his eyes closed.

“Johan…”

The blue mer pulled back after nuzzling their noses together. He smiled, waving at Sho and Judai before his tail gave a powerful push and he darted out of the area faster than Sho had ever seen another mer do other than Judai.

Judai was completely smitten. He watched Johan leave until he was a speck in the ocean before he sighed and finally seemed to notice Sho. “He’s cool, huh?”

Sho rolled his eyes. “Come on before my brother really does send out a search.”

Judai grinned. “Race ya.” And before Sho could protest, Judai dashed out of there as fast as Johan had. He shook his head and whined while trying to catch up to Judai knowing it was futile.

He was even slower than usual because most of his attention had been on that other mer.

He hoped Judai never saw him again. 


	2. Chapter 2

Asuka was the first to greet them once they were close enough to the pod. She rushed over, leaving a swirl of bubbles in her wake as she fussed over Judai first before looking at Sho.

She was a very beautiful mermaid, with long blonde hair and a white and gold tail to match. Her fins were small but she was designed for speed too; she proudly held the position of fastest mermaid in their pod.

She stared curiously at Judai who had a dazed look on his face. She sent him a questioning click and he half-heartedly sent one back.

Judai turned back to Sho. “Did you see how beautiful those fins were?”

Sho sighed. “You’ve already told me this.”

Asuka crossed her arms over her chest. Today she wore white shells that were delicately lined in red. “Whose fins?”

Judai smiled at her, making her heart unintentionally skip a beat. “Johan’s!”

“Who?”

“He met some strange mer outside our territory.”

Asuka’s eyes narrowed. She may have been the pod’s princess essentially, (a title given to her thanks to her brother, it stuck and yet, she liked it now) but she carried with her a fierceness that immediately showed everyone not to get on her bad side. “You went outside our territory? Again?”

Judai frowned, already tired of this conversation, knowing when he’d see Ryou he’d just get another one. “It’s fine, I was totally safe.”

“It’s not fine, it’s dangerous.” Asuka stated, like they’ve had this conversation before. They had in fact, sometime last month, when Judai first started venturing out of their pod’s territory. Sho swam over to her side and nodded in agreement.

Oh great, they teamed up on him now.

Judai scoffed. “The only thing dangerous out there was me.” He paused, “And I got to meet Johan,” his markings seemed to get a little more vibrant. “Guys, it was like an instant connection.”

A soft red dusting appeared on his cheeks much to Sho and Asuka’s surprise when they quickly exchanged glances.

“I’ve never felt that way before.”

Asuka’s tail tensed, the end wanting to coil and uncoil in response to her emotions but she stopped herself.

Judai remained unaware as he thought back to his short meeting with Johan. What a lasting impression it made on him. “Like it wasn’t our first time meeting,” he whispered.

Asuka frowned. “You should go find Ryou before he thinks you’re still missing.”

Judai sighed and went off on his way to find their pod leader.

Their pod was a smaller one but it wasn’t small. Their young were encouraged never to leave the pod because it was dangerous; they were also encouraged to find love within this pod to keep from getting the urge to swim away.

Asuka, Judai, Sho, and others in their age group were reaching their maturity by now and would soon be expected to find and court a mate here in their pod. Judai had reached his maturity first but he had been completely uninterested in pursuing a mate. Most of their pod assumed Judai would start courting Asuka once she reached maturity since they were the top hunters in their age range, but he never seemed to actually _look_ at her. His gazes never changed to include love or lust and he just continued to treat her the same way as before. Some thought he actually was courting her, just in a weird way. Asuka had turned down many suitors because she was secretly waiting for him.

A slightly younger mermaid, Rei with dark blue hair and tail with red stripes, had her eyes on Judai too. Rumor had it she might try to court Judai first.

It wasn’t unheard of. It just wasn’t common.

And yet, what no one in their pod had managed to do—get Judai’s attention—some foreign mer had done in just one meeting.

“Did you meet the other mer?” She asked at last.

Sho nodded. “They were holding hands when I saw them.”

Asuka clicked angrily, startling Sho. “Judai’s always been full of wanderlust and this will just make him want to leave the pod more.”

“I don’t think Ryou’s going to let him go anytime soon.”

“We’ll just have to go with him next time he tries to leave.”

Sho’s tail twitched nervously. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I don't think he’d like us doing that.” He was pretty sure he’d know how his best friend would react to that.

“You know it’s dangerous out there.”

“If you’re that worried about the other mer, he seemed harmless enough, honestly.”

“It’s not just that.” Asuka’s pale yellow eyes avoided Sho’s gray ones.

He peered closely at her, squinting. His tail twitched suddenly, dragging him back to give her some space. “You’re worried he’s going to court the other mer!”

Asuka blushed, tail pushing against the water so she could turn her back to him. “No!”

“But Asuka,” Sho looked genuinely curious. “Why don’t you just start courting him yourself?”

Asuka shook her head. “I can’t.”

Sho frowned. “Why not?”

Asuka glanced back at him, “I don’t know how he feels.” And before Sho could reply, she swam away from him, whipping a storm of bubbles behind her.

* * *

 When Johan reached his pod’s territory, he was greeted by a small whale shark that came rushing towards him.

He grinned, swimming faster to catch up, then swam all around her. “Hello beautiful, what have you been up to?” He clicked softly at her and she swam happily around him.

“You’re going to spoil Karen,” came a nearby voice.

Johan, who was swimming upside down near Karen’s face, just laughed. “Well Jim, she’s the most beautiful member of our pod so it’s ok.”

“That she is.” Jim nodded approvingly once he approached them. “You went out for today, see anything interesting?”

And then Johan lit up like Jim had never seen before.

“I met someone, his name is Judai, he’s from another pod,” Johan swam closer to Jim who looked at him curiously, “It was like an instant connection, like I can’t really describe it. Almost like it wasn’t the first time we’ve met.”

Jim chuckled, his long black tail with bright green markings merrily moving side to side. “Sounds like you had fun.”

“I did. It wasn’t long but, it felt different, you know?”

Johan didn’t even notice as Jim swam closer while Johan drifted in thought. Jim reached out and ruffled Johan’s blue hair, causing him to smile. “Just stay outta trouble, you hear?”

“Aw come on, you know me, Jim.”

“I do,” the mer crossed his arms over his chest. “I also know you have a penchant for getting into trouble. Hopefully this new friend of yours can keep you on the right track.”

Johan grinned brightly. He was definitely well known in their pod for having the brightest disposition. “I can’t wait to see him again.”

“Maybe I should come meet this mer that’s got you smitten.”

Johan flushed, ducking his head. “Oh stop, you know how much I love making new friends. It’s nice to meet others.”

Jim laughed, “Sure, sure. Want to go out hunting with me and Karen? It’s almost time for her next meal.”

Johan nodded with enthusiasm. “Race you!” And he dashed off, Karen rushing right after him.

Jim shook his head with a fond smile on his face. He trusted Johan, that mer was a great judge of character and was never once afraid of Karen once Jim found her injured many years ago and brought her to their pod. So he figured Johan would be fine, but it wouldn’t hurt to take a peek and make sure. He grinned to himself and swam after Johan and Karen who had covered a lot of distance. “Better hope I don’t steal your catch!”

* * *

 “You get how dangerous it is, right?”

Judai wanted to roll his eyes but given that this was already Ryou’s second time going through this spiel, Judai didn’t want to chance a third. “Like I told Asuka, I was probably the most dangerous creature in that area.”

“That other mer could’ve been a threat, you could’ve been ambushed.” Ryou’s expression was fierce and gave a couple upset clicks. He’d only been leading their pod for a few years now and it seemed it really brought a lot of stress on him. He was much bigger than Judai—his tail black with dark purple fins lined with silver. His hair matched the teal part of his tail and his eyes were such a dark blue they seemed to hide as many secrets as the ocean itself.

Judai could still recall a time when Ryou used to smile and play with him and Sho, before he became the pod leader. “Johan would never hurt me.”

“You don’t even know him.”

“I do!” Judai argued, tail tense, ready to push him into danger or away from it. He stopped himself from clicking angrily because he didn’t want a confrontation. But he didn’t want Ryou to speak of Johan like he was a bad mer just because he was from a different pod. This was Judai’s first time meeting an outsider after all, he didn’t see anything wrong here. “I _do_. Ryou, I just feel like I do. I feel like I can trust Johan with my life.”

Ryou swam to him so fast Judai barely had time to back up enough so Ryou wasn’t snarling inches from his face. “You’re supposed to trust me, trust your pod. I can’t let you run off with any pretty mer you find.”

Judai rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest, aware he looked a little defensive as his tail tried to look nonchalant as it moved through the water. The last thing they needed was for Ryou to think Judai was challenging him. “You can’t keep me here, I’m not a pup anymore.”

Ryou narrowed his eyes, fins flaring. “You aren’t leaving our territory again.”

Judai snorted. “Wait, you’re serious? I’m not going to get lost.”

“No, Judai. If I let you off like that then the younger ones will want to do the same.” A lot of the pups looked up to Judai, much to Ryou’s chagrin. Judai was a good mer, until he got curious or the wanderlust hit. “I can keep us safe if everyone stays here.”

Judai took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, fins twitching. He clicked, in resignation, “Fine.”

Ryou’s fins flattened down, gaze softening. “Thank you.”

“Can I go now?”

Ryou nodded and Judai didn’t waste any time before darting out of there, leaving a trail of bubbles in his wake.

Judai understood Ryou had his duties to the pod. And he loved and trusted his pod. But Johan was new and Judai was curious about why his heart skipped a beat when he and Johan met.

Judai was the fastest in the pod—he could sneak out no problem once everyone was sleeping.

* * *

 _S_ _orry Ryou,_ Judai thought as he slowly swam away from their home a couple nights later. He was slow right now to prevent giving himself away by being careless. He needed to make sure none of the other mers were awake, or would wake up with him darting around all over the place.

He just really wanted to see Johan again. A couple days was enough, right?

The higher he went in the water the warmer it got but the sun was still only beginning to rise.

He paused several times on his way out, always feeling watched or followed but he figured it was the paranoia because he was sneaking out, against his leader’s wishes.

Judai almost felt giddy as soon as he crossed his pod’s bounds.

He swam past schools of fish, of floating kelp and other things, some turtles, a couple sharks.

Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He dashed to it, finding something glittering amidst the sandy bottom.

He dug it out carefully, revealing a thin metal chain, with a small red stone on it, a shiny red stone. Normally, Judai ignored things like this—the ocean floor was littered with lost jewelry from the land dwellers; it was like people just threw their stuff into the ocean and dipped out. But this time he saw this and thought, _this would look nice on Johan_.

Past-Judai would be so surprised to know that he would think so much about another mer just after meeting them.

They were totally destined to be best friends, he could tell.

Judai gently held the necklace in his palm, claws wary of the delicate chain.

He didn’t even know where Johan would be, if he would even be out tonight—this morning.

Did Johan even remember the red mer he met? Maybe he was used to meeting mers outside his pod?

But the way he lit up, literally, when they met gave Judai a little hope.

He glanced down at his tail, wondering why he hadn’t lit up like that before, or if he would again. He probably should’ve mentioned it to Ryou but Ryou didn’t seem like he was in the mood to talk about Judai and Johan lighting up like a beacon. Judai poked at the spots on his forearms that lit up, wondering if they’d light up again but they didn’t.

He swam around for a little while, darting here and there, into and out of caves, exploring a little. He let himself float through the water, drifting along on his back, staring at the necklace in his hand.

His fins started to brighten out of the corner of his eye. He stopped floating and righted himself, looking around.

“Judai!” he heard a familiar voice behind him with a questioning click that caused a smile on his face. He hid the necklace behind his back before Johan could notice it.

“Johan?” he flipped over, seeing the blue mer, glowing like before, swim toward him with a grin on his face.

“Funny how we met up again,” Johan circled around him, like he had the first time. “I don’t normally see you in this area.”

Judai suddenly looked around, taking in his surroundings better and seeing they were unfamiliar. He winced. “Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever gone this far before.”

“We’re not that far out from my pod.”

Yikes, then he was _really_ far from his own. Judai looked up, seeing faint rays of sun streaming through the water. So it was daylight. His pod had probably noticed he was gone. Oh well. “How are you?”

Johan chuckled. “I’m good, how are you?”

“I… found something for you.”

Green eyes blinked curiously. “For me?”

A faint red dusted Judai’s cheeks. “Well I saw it and thought of you.” He looked away, a little sheepish. His blush darkened when he extended his hand out, unclenching it, palm facing up to reveal the necklace.

Johan’s colors seem to brighten even more, swimming closer to Judai to look at the gift. “It’s beautiful! Are you sure you want to give it to me?”

Judai met his gaze and nodded.

Johan’s look turned fond and Judai felt his heart skip a beat. He probably needed to get that checked out at the rate he was going. “I love it, thank you.” He gently took it and opened the clasp, attempting to put it on when Judai rushed behind him, to help put it on.

Johan’s cheeks grew a little warm when he smiled at Judai after he finished. It sat perfectly in the center of his chest, red a bright change of color from the electric blue. He looked shy as he fiddled with the necklace. “Does it look good?”

“Yeah,” but Judai wasn’t even looking at the necklace.  

* * *

 Jim whistled from his perch behind some large rock formation. He was positive Johan had no idea he was there and the red mer was too caught up in his podmate to notice him.

“They’ve got it bad.”

Karen, who was having trouble keeping out of sight as she swam around, nuzzled his hand in agreement.

* * *

 “He’s courting him!” Asuka hissed at Sho without taking her eyes off the two glowing mers. She couldn’t figure out why that happened, it wasn’t something she remembered hearing about mers doing when they met each other. She grabbed his arm and shook him a little as she spoke. The two of them were hiding behind some huge clusters of anemones and other underwater plants, safely out of either mers’ views.

“I don’t think so, I’m not sure Judai knows how to court someone,” Sho replied with a frown, surveying the scene, ignoring Asuka’s grasp.

They watched as Johan hugged Judai who froze for a moment until he wrapped his arms around Johan’s waist.

Asuka clicked sadly. Regardless if Judai knew it or not, his instincts were courting and it looked like Johan was returning those feelings.

* * *

“Will you get in trouble for being so far from your pod?” Johan asked, slowly pulling away from the hug. He didn’t notice the way Judai’s tail tried to coil around his before Judai let him go, discreetly looking at his tail both curiously and accusingly.

Brown eyes were drawn to the red stone glittering on Johan’s chest. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say that stone was exactly the same color as Judai’s tail. The thought satisfied him for some reason. “Nah, I’ll just have to go home with a good catch, it’ll be fine. I bet no one’s noticed.” He looked a little sheepish and Johan gave him an amused look.

“So you’re a hunter?”

Judai nodded. “Fasted in the pod, actually.” It wasn’t a bad thing to be aware of his own good qualities.

Johan looked mildly impressed. “Fastest, huh? We’ll have to race sometime then.”

“You’re on!” Judai immediately agreed because he was never one to back away from a challenge. “Are you a hunter too?”

“Normally, but I’m filling in for a carer lately too because a couple are sick right now.”

Judai grinned at the image of Johan surrounded by pups. “Then one day if I see you out hunting we should team up.”

“After racing.”

“Of course.”

Johan fiddled with the necklace again. He loved it, he just wasn’t used to it yet. “I’m sorry I didn’t come with a gift for you, I didn’t expect to see you.”

Judai leaned back with his arms crossed behind his head, to lazily float over to Johan’s side, looking smug. “Are you saying you planned to get me something?”

Johan playfully pushed a laughing Judai away with his tail. “I will _now_.”

Judai flipped over and swam so his face was inches from Johan’s; the blue mer didn’t even flinch. Judai grinned. “Don’t worry about it. Seeing you is enough.”

Johan wasn’t sure why his cheeks suddenly felt a little warm but he was happy. “I hate to leave so soon but I have to get going, I’m sure the pups are starting to wake up now.”

Judai circled him. “I hope I see you around then.”

“I’ll know you’re nearby if I start glowing.” He winked and Judai already knew that any punishment Ryou gave him later would be totally worth it this time he got to spend with him.

They should probably talk about the glowing, but figured they could do that another time they met up. It didn’t seem to be a bad thing so holding off on it probably wouldn’t be bad either.

“Be careful out there,” he stopped swimming until he was in front of Johan again.

“I should be telling _you_ that, do you want me to swim with you back out closer to your territory?”

Judai didn’t want to pass up a chance to spend a couple more moments with Johan and only felt a little selfish when he said, “Sure.”

So they swam a little, dodging curious fish, tiny turtles swimming around, darting past a pair of manta rays that playfully followed them for a bit. One baby hammerhead shark briefly parted from its mother to go play with them a little, and after a couple coaxing clicks from Johan, the baby returned to its mom who had been watching them with fond eyes. They talked, a little bit about their pods, a little about each other.

Judai stopped and held a hand out to stop Johan. He would totally have him come to his pod so he can meet his other friends and show Ryou that he wasn’t a bad mer at all, but he understood that Johan needed to go back to the pups of his pod.

“I’ll see you around?”

“Maybe tomorrow night?”

Johan smiled. “We can meet back here.”

They stayed there, swimming close, staring at each other. They completely missed when three nearby mers and a whale shark zipped away in opposite directions. They never even noticed being followed.

Johan took one of Judai’s hands and squeezed it gently. “Bye Judai.”

“Bye,” Judai squeezed back and let go, watching Johan swim off with a smile and a wave, disappearing from sight after a few moments, both of their glowing fading.

“Heh. He’s fast too.” Judai mused, before turning around and speeding back the way he came, searching for something to bring back for the pod.

Once he was back home, he avoided any mers he could see and waited until he felt it was safe enough to reveal himself and his catch. He thought he was in the clear until he heard someone click behind him. Judai whirled around, seeing the mer in front of him, a frown on his face with steely blue eyes.

“Oh. Hi Ryou…”

* * *

"Your morning swim took a little longer than usual,” Jim commented when he saw Johan back with their pod. He knew of Johan’s tendency to get up just before the first light and swim around until it was time for breakfast, usually coming in with a nice catch. Jim looked at the necklace. “What’s that?”

Johan looked sheepish, a hand going up to fiddle with the red gem reminiscent of the red mer he knew. “I saw Judai again, he gave me this.”

“Well that’s nice of him.” Jim watched as Karen nuzzled Johan in greeting. “The pups are awake and I’m sure Edo doesn’t want to be alone with them.”

Johan laughed. “They’re pups.”

“They’re _nightmares_ ,” Edo cut in, clicking stressfully, appearing out of nowhere and swimming over to them. He took one of Johan’s hands to pull him along. “Now come help me.”

He was a little smaller than Johan, with a silver tail and white fins. White and dark blue markings went up his hands and forearms, along with with silver spots where his skin met his tail at his waist. Edo’s eyes were a dark, deep blue that put the ocean to shame. His shoulder-length silver hair currently sported some clumped kelp  and a couple shells thanks to the pups who were already awake and causing mischief.

Edo was another hunter filling in for the carers though he wasn’t as enthused about it as Johan was.

Johan let himself be pulled to the nursery with a laugh and waved goodbye to Jim who patted Karen’s nose so she could go follow after those two. She liked the pups too; they liked to play with her.

Jim yawned, settling down on the sandy ground, arms cushioning his head. He was a guard but was off duty today—that’s why he snuck out after Johan left for his early morning swim. He just wanted to make sure Johan was safe and didn’t encounter any trouble, prone to it as he was. Imagine his surprise when he sees the red mer that’s kept Johan in a bit of a daze the last couple days.

He wasn’t sure if Johan always knew Jim kept an eye on him when he could but he hadn’t said anything yet.

Jim sighed, closing his eyes and hoping for a little extra sleep before it was time for breakfast.

“Who would’ve thought Johan would find his soulmate from another pod?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey check it out I didn't forget about this story hehe  
> Btw I don't have a beta so if there's lots of mistakes I'm sorry, I'll catch them next time I go over this lol  
> Is there going to be a plot? Probably a tiny one, if I can squeeze one in here. I just wanted to write mermaid fluff tbh  
> There's gonna be other ships here, other than spiritshipping, they just won't be focused on as much.. can anyone guess what they'll be?  
> Thank you for reading! :D  
> Come talk to me about spiritshipping at [my twitter ](https://twitter.com/gummyrubi) or [my tumblr](https://chocomonki.tumblr.com) :D


	3. Chapter 3

And so, for the next couple months, Johan and Judai met up in secret again and again.

Johan never took off the necklace Judai had given him and now he also sported a thin silver chain on each wrist. Any time Judai found something his first instinct was to give it to Johan, who accepted them with a warm smile and a blush. 

One day Johan found a gold chain bracelet and immediately gave it to Judai who at first tried to get him to keep it (“It’ll look better on you,” Judai protested, eyeing the bracelets already on Johan’s wrists. “Judai, please,” Johan held his hands out with the gold bracelet in his palms. He looked so determined for Judai to have it. Judai’s heart melted.) until Judai finally gave in.

Judai didn’t miss the way Asuka, Sho, and Ryou had all eyed that bracelet and how clearly they didn’t believe him when he said he found it. Ryou had essentially grounded him after that time Judai gifted Johan the necklace; Judai technically wasn’t even supposed to be seeing him. But that wasn’t going to stop him. Judai eventually caved and told Sho where the bracelet came from and all Sho did was look at him in disapproval. 

But it was worth it.

Judai recalled the way Johan lit up, all bright, electric blues, when Judai accepted his gift.

Johan had hugged him after he put on the bracelet and just before pulling away completely, he moved so he was able to gently rub his nose with Judai’s. He’d blushed and Johan smiled at him, shyly tucking some of his hair behind a blue-tipped ear. Judai wondered if he’d be able to find a pretty hair clip for him, or if not, maybe he could make him one. He didn’t know how to make one, but he was willing to learn.  

Asuka had ignored him for weeks after the bracelet. Judai was sad about that since they were friends and she took to swimming away as soon as she saw him in the area. Eventually she talked to him again but it took a while. Judai got a lot of dirty and curious looks in the pod for making Asuka upset. Especially from a black and purple mer, Manjyoume. 

Judai never got around to asking why she acted like that though, he just assumed she was disappointed he kept leaving their pod and disobeying their leader. 

Rei had come around him once or twice but it was always when Judai was trying to sneak out. So all he did was apologize and rush off, telling her they could hang out later.

Sho caught him about to leave yet all he did was look disapproving, shake his head, and just warn him to be careful out there.

The last time he and Johan met up, they talked about their pods and how they felt about their meetings.

Johan put a finger to his chin in deep thought. “Well, Jim knows of you. He’s happy I made a friend.”

Judai felt relieved Johan wasn’t having the same problems with his pod. 

“And if Jim knows, then Karen knows too.”

“His mate?”

Johan grinned cheekily. “His whale shark. He rescued her when she was a pup and she’s been with him ever since.”

“Whoa, that’s so cool!”

Johan swam around Judai in a circle. “One day I’ll introduce you to them!”

“I’d like that. You already met Sho, but I’d like you to meet my other friends too.”

“I look forward to it.” Johan thought for a bit. “Oh, Edo knows about you too! He just tells me to be careful not to get lost.” He named off a few other podmates and Judai smiled the whole time, happy to know that Johan’s pod cared a lot about him and were supportive of his friendship with Judai.

“What about yours?”

Judai watched as a tiny, curious fish swam up to the glowing Johan. The mer kindly played with it, dashing here and there until he noticed the fish’s school nearby and helped guide it back to them. Everything Johan did made Judai’s heart feel full. 

“My pod leader and some of my closest friends know about you but they don’t like that I leave the pod to come see you.”

Johan immediately turned to him, after seeing to make sure the tiny fish made its way safely to his school, and his expression fell. “Judai—”

The red mer rushed to him and took hold of his hand—that crestfallen expression he wore was something Judai never wanted to see again. “It’s ok, they’re really nice and mean well but I won’t stop coming to see you just because they aren’t happy.”

Johan bit his lower lip, looking unsure. “Judai, your pod is your family. I don’t want to come in between that.”

“Johan,  _ no _ ,” Judai’s other hand took Johan’s other hand too. He gently clicked at him and squeezed both his hands. “They’re like that because a few years ago we lost one of our prodmates. He wanted to go out exploring and he just… never came back.” Johan averted his gaze, his fins seemed to droop a little. “They’re worried the same will happen to me but it won’t.” He tilted his head until he caught Johan’s gaze, giving him a reassuring smile. “I promise I’ll be ok. I want to keep seeing you.”

Johan hesitantly squeezed his hands back. “Judai,” he trailed off, still worrying his lower lip.

Judai moved their hands until one of his was holding both of Johan’s. He raised his free hand and gently cupped Johan’s face. He lightly thumbed at Johan’s lower lip to get him to stop biting it. “Johan, they’ll come around eventually. And they can’t keep me in that pod forever. I’ve always wanted to go out exploring. You’ve just given me more reasons to do it. I’ll be ok.”

Johan’s green eyes searched into brown. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’d miss you too much if I stopped seeing you.”

A small smile appeared on the blue mer’s face.

“There we go,” Judai said when he saw it. He clicked happily and Johan returned it. He leaned forward and rubbed their noses together, taking hold of Johan’s hands with both of his. 

“You’re my best friend, Judai.”

“And you’re mine.”

Judai smiled when he thought back to that night. He swam around once he crossed his pod’s border, dashing here and there, reveling in the freedom he had. 

He got to the place where they roughly met up—anywhere within a few miles around that place was fair game—and Judai just laid back, letting the current take him all over. He saw another school of fish, bigger and different from the ones before and he followed them for a bit until he got bored and swam back. 

“I bet if Ryou met Johan, or maybe met his pod leader, he'd see that it's totally safe to come out here.” He said to himself as he waited. He swam down to the ocean floor and saw lots of little creatures there. Mers could see pretty well in the dark since they were used to the sun only penetrating so deep into the ocean before it became dark. “Maybe I should tell Ryou about the glowing too, seems like he'd know what it meant.” He hadn't heard of others mers glowing like that, but in between always being scolded for leaving the pod and thinking about Johan, it left little time for Judai to tell him those details. 

Judai was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't even realize it was nighttime and hours had gone by without a hint of Johan.

Judai frowned and righted himself, claws out. He and Johan had a system worked out and told each other when they would be able to come out next—today was supposed to be their next meeting and Johan had never been late to one. 

Judai clicked and called out Johan's name in hopes that the blue mer was nearby and would hear him but other than the sounds of the oceans, he didn't get a response. 

He called out his name again and again and got nothing in return. Judai’s red tipped ears twitched this way and that in an effort to catch any trace of the blue mer but he couldn’t hear him.

Eventually, after another hour, Judai decided it was time to go back to his pod before Ryou absolutely lost it again. With one last dejected look at the vast blue behind him, he turned, and swam away.

He snuck back into his territory and made it back to his home without Ryou noticing. Sho, however, did notice, and went over to him once most of the mers in their pod were asleep.

“What’s wrong? You look sad.”

Judai was laying on the ground of the cave, tail lazily flopping around. His claws were idly tracing patterns into the rocks beside him, digging into them like they were made of sponge before tossing out the chunks. “Johan didn’t show today.”

Sho’s face looked like he was debating whether or not to say something. His gray eyes watched as Judai carried on with the rocks. “I think maybe it could be for the best.”

Judai immediately lifted himself off the ground, furrowing his brows at his friend. “No way, he’s my best friend, I’m worried about him.”

“Judai, the ocean is so much larger than you think it is, you already have us, and I’m sure you’ll find another friend—”

“I don’t  _ want _ another friend, I want Johan.” Judai huffed, his fins twitching. They both knew Judai wasn’t going to lash out at the other mer but it was strange to see him upset like this, something Judai’s never really done before.

“His pod is too far away from ours, it’s dangerous out there.” Sho crossed his arms over his chest, hoping the red mer would take him a little more seriously. “This is for the best.”

Judai’s brown eyes flashed, an angry undercurrent in them; his fins spiked out to make him more intimidating. He took in one deep breath, then another, then he darted off so fast his bubbles pushed Sho back. 

“Come back!” Sho called out but before he even finished that, Judai was completely out of sight. 

“What’s wrong?” Ryou asked, swimming up to his little brother with a quirked brow. He figured Judai had returned by now, and had been planning to talk to him.“What happened? Was that Judai? Where is he going?”

Sho shook his head, “I don’t know. Back to Johan, I think.”

Ryou’s fists clenched and he clicked angrily.

* * *

 

Judai swam around in dark, cold waters for a while after that. He clicked every once in a while, hoping someone—hoping Johan would send him a response. 

It didn’t feel  _ right _ , that Johan hadn’t met up with him today. There were always going to be times when they wouldn’t be able to, even if they had already agreed ahead of time and Judai knew this but this time, something just told him it wasn’t normal. 

He didn’t see other mers nearby and for a while he thought he wandered off too far, swimming backwards for a bit until he turned around and yelped, seeing a whale shark swimming straight towards him. 

The whale shark circled around him twice but her attention was definitely on Judai. 

He thought back to when Johan mentioned a whale shark in his pod, curious about this shark who shared the same curiosity about him. 

Before he could click at her, he heard someone else click first, then heard someone call out. 

“Hey!”

Judai whirled around in time to see a larger mer coming towards him, his coloring green and black. He seemed friendly, but he also looked worried. 

“Are you Judai?” the new mer asked, breaking the silence first. 

Judai nodded. “You’re,” he thought for a second, “Jim, right?”

The black and green mer nodded. “Have you seen Johan?”

“No, I haven’t since last week actually. We were supposed to meet up today but he never showed.” He saw the way the other mer tensed at his words. “Is he ok?”

Jim pet Karen as she came near again, “Our pod isn’t very strict with leaving its boundaries, but someone always has to know that way the pod doesn’t worry. Johan left yesterday saying he was going out for a bit and would come back in a few hours but no one’s seen him since.” He noted the way Judai’s fins started twitching, his claws out and ready. “I hoped maybe he was with you but if you haven’t seen him…”

“Does he wander, at all?”

“He always comes back.” Jim shook his head. “He’s gotten lost before, but that was when we were pups. I’m not sure if he’s lost again, but our pod’s worried.”

This was what he had been feeling earlier. His instincts had been telling him something was  _ wrong _ and he should be out there looking for Johan. Judai came to a decision. “I’ll go find him.”

“Wait, what about your own pod?” Jim let Karen bump her nose into his back and he reached back to pet her again, knowing it was helping to calm some of her worry.

Judai’s fins looked sharp and dangerous, he seemed worried but it was overshadowed by his determination. Jim wondered about Johan’s mate, because while undoubtedly a kind mer, he also looked ready to tear anything apart that got in his way of finding Johan. 

“I’ll find him.” He insisted, then he sped off, leaving a trail of bubbles in his wake. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hasn't been too long since the last update, right? Ahahaha  
> Let's hope Johan's ok... >:3  
> Sorry it's short! But I think all my chapters will be.. I have some idea of how long this will be so like, let's hope I can stick to my own outlines lolol  
> How dare I try to squeeze a tiny plot in this fluff? Don't worry, we'll be back to the regularly scheduled fluff soon :D  
> It's mermay and I'm gonna do my best to update more and/or finish this haha  
> EDIT 5.14.18 Have you guys seen the incredible art drawn by [cinnamonconi](https://twitter.com/cinnamonconi)??? It's in the first chapter and it's so lovely and perfect ahhhh <3


	4. Chapter 4

Judai popped his head out of the water with a gasp. He wasn’t sure how far he’d traveled tonight—he was definitely lost, but he wasn’t going to worry about that right now.

The water felt colder than usual tonight. It creeped and chilled his core but he stopped himself from finding warmer waters. Waves crashed over him, sending him back under time and again. He was a little surprised by how chaotic the ocean was tonight.

But it seemed fitting.

He hoped wherever Johan was, he was safe, at least.

He didn’t know _how_ he knew, but Judai knew Johan wasn’t just taking a long detour before going home to his pod.

Judai clicked into the night air, hearing nothing in return except for the waters crashing around him.

His hair whipped around his face in the freezing wind he only just noticed, plastering it down his face when the wind died down.

He clicked in frustration and sunk back beneath the water, going deeper and deeper, calling out his friend’s name.

The ocean was huge.

Like, he had trouble comprehending just how big it actually was because his pod wasn’t a migrating one—their roots were all too deeply established for his pod to ever consider migrating, no matter how good of an idea it seemed.

He had to hope that he’d find his friend eventually. Maybe the ocean would take pity on him and guide him to where he needed to be.

He was lucky, when he and Johan first met, that the ocean herself let them meet, bringing them together, a spark of red and blue lights in the darkness of the ocean.

If Judai hadn’t been out that night far out of his pod’s boundaries, part of him wonders if he ever would’ve met Johan, or if the other mer might’ve stumbled upon him sooner or later.

Or if they would have just swam past each other forever, miles of ocean between them, never quite close enough to meet, until the end of their days.

He clicked, calling out again and again, only managing to scare away nearby marine life.

Judai continued swimming, darting here and there when he noticed underwater caves or large rock formations. He slowed down when he searched here, both to catch his breath for a second and to make sure he was thorough.

“Johan!” he called out.

But in the darkness of the ocean, no one called back.

* * *

 “Don’t know why I’m surprised, Johan’s always been a magnet for trouble, ever since we were pups.” Jim let himself slow down so he could catch a breath.

Karen nudged him with her nose in agreement.

“He’s our podmate, I worry about him,” Jim spoke, more to himself but it was comforting when Karen swam a little closer to him. “I hope he’s ok.”

Jim appreciated how quickly Judai had agreed to help him search for the blue mer—he already had Edo out looking too. Someone was bound to find him.

“Next time he leaves the pod, I’m going with him,” he sighed.

He darted off again, with his whale shark by his side.

* * *

 “I don’t get why you’re so hung up on him,” an annoyed voice clicked.

Asuka crossed her arms over her chest and turned herself so she wasn’t fully facing the black and purple mer. “Jun, you just don’t understand.”

“Then enlighten me, because all I see is you stopping yourself from being happy.”

Asuka hissed, turning her glare on him. “That’s not for you to decide.”

This wasn’t the first time they’ve had this conversation.

It was actually the second time, the first having happened a couple years back, when their bunch were starting to come of age together. Manjyome, a normally shy mer, had gathered his courage and propositioned Asuka, the first of their bunch to try to court her. She’d been asked by some older mers before, but she’d always turned them down.

Her and Manjyome were friends, not the closest, but they occasionally hung out together and it was nice.

Asuka’s response to his first question had been to thank him for his feelings, but tell him she couldn’t, because there was someone else that had caught her attention.

“It’s Judai, isn’t it?”

Asuka fought a blush from spreading across her cheeks. She couldn’t let her interest in the red mer be so obvious. “It’s not—”

Manjyome held a hand up to stop her, the purple markings going up from his fingertips to halfway up his forearms. “Don’t worry, I get it. Half the pod seems to be interested in him.” He scoffed, “I don’t know _why_ but that’s just how that happened. You should court him first, if you’re into him.”

This time the white and yellow mer couldn’t stop her cheeks from warming. She carded a hand through her long blond hair currently adorned with tiny seashells and little crystals her older brother had gifted her in years prior. “I wanted to wait,” she shrugged. “It seems too early now.”

Manjyome had stared at her for a while, unblinking. She was used to having mers in their pod watch her, but she couldn’t help but feel something in her core twitch when those dark eyes focused on her, only on her. “I hope it’s worth it.”

Manjyome swam around her, keeping his distance enough so that she wouldn’t feel threatened, but close enough so he didn’t have to raise his voice, “You’re waiting around for a mer who wants nothing more than to leave. Is that what you want?”

Asuka clicked at him. “I don’t think you’re in any position to make decisions for me.”

“I’m your friend and I’m looking out for you.”

“Then as my friend I’m asking you to let me make my own mistakes.”

She was a beautiful, powerful mer. Anyone would be lucky to be her mate, if she ever took one.

Manjyome took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. It honestly wasn’t the time for this kind of conversation. It was late and the two of them should be sleeping but Manjyome had taken one look at Asuka’s downcast expression and had decided to go talk to her.

Manjyome raked a hand through his hair but finally nodded. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

She watched him leave. Then in a soft voice, “I hope so too.”

* * *

 “Has Judai returned yet?” Ryou asked, swimming up to his brother who startled, whirling around in his spot, his yellow tail whipping up some bubbles.

“N-no, he hasn’t.”

Ryou clicked angrily, crossing his arms over his chest. “He can’t keep leaving like this, one day he’s not going to come back and we can’t go through that again.”

Sho bit his lower lip, hesitating in speaking. “I don’t think Judai would stay here against his will either.”

Ryou turned his glare onto Sho, relenting only when he saw the way Sho backed up. “Do you want to leave too?”

“No! This is my home.”

Ryou swam around him, waiting to see if Sho would take it back.

“Judai’s filled with wanderlust, I don’t know why. We were troublemakers as pups but everything we needed was here. I don’t know what he would find out there that can’t be found with us.” Sho’s tail curled in on itself, a little out of worry for what his brother would say.

Ryou’s gaze softened when he saw he was stressing his little brother out. He swam in front of him, letting his tail gently brush against Sho’s, like when they were smaller. Sho looked up at him for a second before letting it curl a little around him.

He smiled up at him. “You’re a little scary, since becoming our pod leader.”

Ryou sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I just don’t want to mess up, but Judai’s always,” he trailed off, shaking his head.

“I don’t think he’s doing it on purpose,” Sho told him honestly, swimming around Ryou, glancing out into the distance to see if he would see that speck of red.

Another mer, with brown hair and eyes, a black tail with red stripes going down on either side, red markings on his hands up to his forearms, swam up to them, noting the look on Ryou’s face. “Judai still not back yet?”

“Fubuki,” Ryou rolled his eyes, swimming just out of his reach. “No, he’s not.”

Fubuki didn’t let Ryou’s attitude deter him. He swam closer to him, but kept a respectable distance. They grew up together, much like Asuka and Sho did, so Fubuki was all too familiar with Ryou’s temper. “I could lead a search for him.”

“No.” His immediate refusal startled Sho and Fubuki. He clicked, swimming a little further away from the both of them. “We will wait here for him. I’m not going to send more of us out there looking for someone who doesn’t want to be found.”

Fubuki frowned but he knew he wouldn’t go against his leader’s decision. Sho looked like he wanted to defend Judai, but he kept quiet.

He hoped Judai came back soon.

* * *

 “Any luck?” Edo asked as soon as he and Jim met up near their pod. He swam around Jim and Karen, but didn’t see another mer.

Jim shook his head. “I’m guessing you didn’t have any luck either?”

Edo’s worried expression was his answer.

“We’ll find him.” Jim assured. “If not us, Judai’s out looking for him, too.”

“Johan’s friend from the other pod?”

“Yeah, I bumped into him, he and Johan were supposed to meet up earlier but when Johan didn’t show, Judai went looking. He said he would keep looking too.”

Edo absentmindedly patted Karen’s nose when she got close to him. “The pups haven’t been told, but I think they can feel something’s up.”

The black and green mer led the way back to their pod, with the whale shark and silver mer in tow. “We’ll leave again after we’ve rested a little. It won’t do us any good if we also get lost out there.”

“You’re right.”

* * *

 Judai managed to eat already while he was out looking, catching just enough for himself and eating only because he knew he couldn’t go on willpower alone.

He kept swimming, calling out occasionally, clicking too.

He already knew he’d be in trouble when he made it back to his own pod—assuming he didn’t get lost before then. It was a distinct possibility that in looking for Johan, Judai would get lost and have his own pod out looking for him too.

Or maybe not, he didn’t think Ryou would be comfortable enough letting anyone else leave the pod.

Judai winced. A bridge he’d have to burn when he got there.

Eventually.

* * *

 Johan noticed he was glowing when he looked down at his hands. “Wha—”

He barely had a chance to look up before something collided into him, arms wrapping around him, sending them back several feet as the other clicked in relief.

“Johan, _Johan_ , I finally found you.”

“Judai,” his voice was soft as he returned the embrace; Judai’s hold felt familiar, it felt like home. “I'm sorry if I worried you, I'm ok.” He paused, “How did you find me?”

“I don’t know but I started glowing and knew I had to be close to you.” Judai squeezed him one last time before slowly pulling back, only to gasp when he zeroed in on Johan’s face.

On Johan's left cheek were three claw marks, from his mouth to his cheekbone and they looked fresh.

Judai’s vision went red when he cradled Johan's cheek. “Who did this to you?” his fins sharpened again, the claws on his other hand ready to rip apart whatever hurt the blue mer. A harsh glint in his eyes startled Johan; the way his fangs were out looked deadly.

“It’s ok, Judai. I'm ok.”

“No, you're hurt.” He was so _angry_ , how could anyone _ever_ think to hurt Johan? “Johan, tell me.”

Johan averted his gaze. “There were four of them, I'm lucky I got away with just a scratch. I didn’t want to lead them to my pod, so I swam off in the other direction, and just kept swimming until I lost them.” Johan could feel the rage radiating off of Judai, his glowing seeming to intensify even more. He wasn’t scared; Judai’s anger was something he’d never seen before, but he knew it wasn’t aimed at him. He knew that his anger was out of a sense to protect him.

Judai took in a deep, steadying breath, bringing his other hand to cradle Johan’s unmarred cheek. “I’m glad you’re safe.” He pressed his forehead against Johan’s, reveling in how the blue mer welcomed his touch. Judai carefully thumbed at the marks on his cheek, softly clicking in apology when Johan winced a little.

Judai didn’t know why he decided to pull back from him, brown eyes locking with green for a second, as he lowered his hand near the wounds then gently brushed his lips against them, but he did. It was a soft kiss and the contact didn’t hurt Johan.

The glowing on him got a little brighter, his wounds glowed a bright, electric blue as they slowly started to close.

Judai watched the way the wounds healed, smiling when they closed up entirely.

“Johan?”

Johan seemed to notice the change on him, a hand going up to brush against his cheek. He blinked in confusion when he felt nothing there, like everything had returned to normal. “How did you do that?”

“I’m not sure.” Judai replied, but he dropped his hands from Johan’s face and instead pulled him in for another hug, putting his arms around his neck.

Johan’s arms wrapped around Judai’s waist, bringing him in closer, until there was hardly any space between. “Thank you for finding me.”

“I’ll always find you.”

They separated, just enough so they were at arms-length.

They heard a click, followed by a whistle nearby. Judai moved so he was in front of Johan but the blue mer gently pushed him back to his side.

“It’s ok, I made a friend out here.”

Within seconds, a dolphin showed up, clicking at Judai as if worried he was going to hurt Johan.

“It’s ok, he’s my friend,” Johan assured at the newcomer. He turned back to Judai with a smile. “She’s kept an eye on me since she found me after I managed to lose the rogues.”

Judai’s gaze softened when it landed on the dolphin. He went up to her, putting a hand on her head. “Thank you for taking care of him.”

She clicked happily in return once she established that he wasn’t a threat to her blue mer friend.

Judai sighed as he reached a hand out to intertwine with Johan’s. “You gotta come back home, your pod’s out looking for you.”

Johan squeezed his hand. “I know, but I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t be followed back.” He looked away, “They were… almost feral. I only got away because I’m fast but,” he trailed off with a shake of his head.

“Well you’ve got me now, and this beautiful girl,” the dolphin clicked in agreement with Judai, “So you won’t be alone.”

“Is your pod out looking for you too?”

The red mer thought for a bit. “Probably not, I can’t imagine Ryou would willingly sent out more mers to come find me.”

“Judai,” Johan frowned.

“No, don’t worry about me, we gotta get you home first.”

Johan looked like he wanted to pull his hand away from Judai’s, but the red mer wouldn’t let him.

“Johan, _please_.”

Johan took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. He clicked once. “Alright, but only if you’ll let me swim you back to your own pod after. I don’t want you getting in trouble for this, I want to talk to your pod leader.”

“Deal.” Judai grinned at him, watching the way Johan mirrored his expression. He gently pulled Johan along, with the dolphin behind them. “Let’s get you back home.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look at that I managed to update during mermay hehe  
> So a plot did try to crawl its way out of the ground and I had to beat it back down because I didn't actually want a bigger plot but I guess there's hints of one. Anyway, this story derailed from the oneshot it was supposed to be lmaooo  
> BTW did you guys see that amazing picture cinnamonconi drew for Chapter 1????? <3 <3 <3 I love it so much it's beautiful <3 <3 I linked to her twitter under her pic too!


	5. Chapter 5

If Judai didn’t let go of Johan’s hand even once after they started making their way back to Johan’s pod, Johan never mentioned it. Occasionally, Judai would squeeze the blue mer’s hand, as if to make sure that he wouldn’t suddenly disappear on him. Johan smiled at him and squeezed back.

Their dolphin friend accompanied them for a while until Johan stopped them, turning to her and telling her how much he appreciated her help. She clicked in a tone that sounded like she wanted to make sure Johan would be alright without her but he merely kissed her snout and told her he was going to be fine now, with Judai.

She clicked a couple more times, this time more cheerfully, and off she went, glancing back only once.

“You’re good with animals,” Judai commented, after they had waited for their dolphin friend to disappear into the distance before starting back on their journey. They hoped to find Edo or Jim before reaching the pod so they could alleviate their fears but so far only other than marine life had been the ones to greet them on their way.

Johan’s ear fins twitched, “It’s a big ocean; animals tend to flock to me. I like to make friends when I go out exploring, makes things more fun.”

Judai was silent for a while, eyes pensive. They swam side by side, dodging objects in the water. Johan’s other hand fiddled with his necklace in the amiable silence; thankfully it hadn’t fallen off when he ran from those feral mers, neither had his bracelets. He eyed the bracelet Judai still had with a fond expression. Judai was the first mer he’d befriended outside his pod, and it still made him happy when he thought back to their fateful meeting not too long ago.

“I’ve always wanted to go out and explore,” Judai finally spoke up, eyes mostly looking out in front of him, occasionally scanning the surrounding area to make sure they wouldn’t be ambushed by anyone. He refused to let his guard down anytime soon. “My pod isn’t one that gives us that kind of freedom, but growing up I always knew I couldn’t just stay there forever.”

Johan slowed their swimming a little, knowing they both needed to get to their pods but also knowing it wouldn’t bring them any harm if they took their time. He could tell Judai had something weighing on his mind. “What do you want to explore?”

“Everything,” Judai’s answer was immediate, clearly something he’d put a lot of thought in. “We’re all so small in this giant ocean, there’s so much out there that I feel like I’m missing out on. I’d like to go out and see as much of it as I can. I don’t know what’s out there for me, but I want to find out.”

“Will you leave, once you’re of age?”

Judai looked over at him, taking in the electric blue of this mer beside him, a beacon of light in the dark ocean. “I know my pod leader wouldn’t let me, but I’m not sure there’s a whole lot he could do to stop me.”

“Talk to him,” Johan recommended, “You said your pod lost someone before, right?”

“It wasn’t all that long ago, but I was really small. I don’t even know what his name was. Ryou was left pretty shaken up by it, along with the other older mers in the pod.” Judai glanced down at himself, noting the fluorescent pink on him. He wasn’t sure how safe they’d be in this part of the ocean with the two of them glowing like this, drawing attention to themselves. But he had to trust they’d be ok.

If he and Johan weren’t swimming against time, he’d take the chance to explore right now. He’d go out in search of everything—hidden caves, treasures, old sunken ships the humans left behind centuries ago, marine life he hadn’t yet come across in his life, anything that would get his attention. This whole area was foreign to him and, he figured, to Johan too. They were swimming in a direction that just felt right, hopefully they’d be able to feel the pod once they were close enough. Just a few minutes of searching, now that he had Johan and was assured he wasn’t in danger, would make him happy.

But right now Johan and his safety was more important than his desire to explore—that could all come later.

“I’m probably not helping your case, am I?” Johan asked, warring expressions crossing his face leaving Judai unable to tell which was which. “Sneaking out so much won’t make your pod leader agree to you leaving like that. We could wait, until—”

“I don’t want to. It honestly won’t be much longer till I’m of age, I never took a mate in our pod, there’s nothing to tie me down.” Judai stopped them, moving so they were facing each other, the red mer never releasing Johan’s hand. “It’s thanks to you that I’ve been able to see a little more than just my corner of the ocean.”

“Wait, you never took a mate?” Johan, for all the time they’ve known each other, never once spoke about their mates. Confusion flickered in his green eyes. The topic of mates wasn’t taboo but they really never spoke of that before and Johan just assumed Judai had his eye on someone at least. “Really?”

Judai shook his head. “I never had any interest in anyone. Everyone always said I’d have someone I’d want to court but I never got that feeling with anyone in my pod.” He shrugged nonchalantly. Nothing about his movements seemed like he felt uncomfortable, just that he had a very apathetic disposition about it. “I just figured I was a mer who’d go through life without one, and the thought didn’t seem as scary as people made it feel.” He eyed the blue mer. “Do you have one?”

Johan shook his head. “I turned down some offers once I started maturing but I always felt my mate would be someone outside my pod.” He clicked cheekily. “But someone like you, all bright, beautiful reds, with all your hunter strength and speed? Mers must’ve been lining up to court you.”

“I never noticed anything.” Judai replied honestly. But then he replayed Johan’s words in his mind. “B-beautiful?” A very faint red started dusting his cheeks and Johan chuckled.

“Yes, you’re so eye catching Judai, I’ve never seen anyone like you.” Johan was so genuine and sweet with his compliments Judai could only feel his face growing warmer and warmer.

“And what about you?”

Johan’s tail curled playfully around Judai’s before he started pulling them forward to swim again with a grin. “I’m all blues, Judai. The most common of colors, really.”

“Are you serious? The Goddess poured her whole heart into making you,” Judai blurted out, speeding forward and smiling when Johan matched him easily. “She gave you all the colors of the ocean, you’re graceful, you’re kind, and you’re a hunter too, what’s not to love about you?”

Johan clicked, suddenly shy.

Judai clicked in return, feeling a little winded and not because of the swimming, but he didn’t really know why.

The two of them kept going in silence, a comfortable one that let the distorted sounds of the ocean and marine life set up an ambience around them.

There was a time when they rested for a moment, both darting off in opposite directions and coming back to their spot from before only to present the other with fresh fish. They smiled at each other, exchanged their food and ate as they rested.

Once they were finished, they started swimming together again, heading in hopefully the right direction.

All of that was ruined in a second when they noticed a small group of mers tailing them.

* * *

Asuka swam back and forth near the entrance to their territory, eyes glancing up every time she noticed any kind of movement out in the dark, hoping for a spark of red to show.

She noticed when she wasn’t alone but she made no motion to turn back, she already knew who it was.

“You can go to sleep, you know,” she said without looking at the other mer.

Manjyome sighed, laying down on the largest rock that jutted out, curling his black and purple tail and putting his hands behind his head. “I’ll keep you company.”

That finally got her attention, swimming closely to him. She peered down at him, with barely hidden curiosity. “Why?”

“Don’t want you to be alone.”

“I can take care of myself,” no harm would come to her in her own pod and she was fast and strong enough to fight off anything that came from outside her pod—she was confident in her abilities.

“I know you can,” Manjyome replied, dark eyes locking with her light ones, “Doesn’t mean you have to be by yourself.” He knew how resilient she was, he had no doubt that she could hold her own against whatever the ocean threw at her, but he also knew that he’d rather be able to help her, if the need arose. Or at least make sure she isn’t on her own.

She’d already convinced other mermaids to leave her be so far, she didn’t want any of them worrying. But she could tell Manjyome wouldn’t be able to just leave her like the others had. She clicked in resignation, then went back to swimming where she had been, all the time feeling Manjyome’s protective gaze on her.

“Thank you.”

* * *

 Edo and Jim met up again just a couple hours after they last went out after resting for some minutes. Jim was alone this time, as he’d sent Karen back so she could play with the pups who were starting to ask for Johan, wanting to play with him and show him the seashell crowns they were learning to make.

“I’m never letting him out of my sight again,” Edo mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. He zipped here and there, kicking up a storm of bubbles in his wake.

“I think it’s been enough time that we should probably tell our leader.” Jim raked a hand through his dark hair as he thought. They hadn’t directly gone to their leader before because they couldn’t actually be sure if Johan was lost, or if he’d taken a long detour and would show up later—they didn’t need to recklessly send out search parties for someone who showed up a few hours late. But it’s been too long now and their leader would have to know before things escalated, even if it meant everyone getting chewed out.

“She’s not gonna be happy about this.”

“You’re right about that.”

* * *

 Johan and Judai shared twin looks the moment they noticed they weren’t alone. Those trailing behind them were far enough away that nothing really gave them away—but these two were hunters at their core and the shift in the water was tinged with malicious intent.

Judai’s first thoughts were _keep Johan safe,_ because these must be the ones that chased Johan before, _he’s already been hurt by these guys, I gotta keep him safe_ , so he made the decision to rush off with Johan to keep him out of harm’s way—because Judai could fight and he _really_ wanted revenge on whoever sliced Johan before but he couldn’t risk him again.

But Johan didn’t give him the choice because he pulled out of Judai’s grasp and faced the mers after them.

“Johan,” he called out when he saw the blue mer swim towards them, “Come back!”

“No, I can’t let them find my pod.” Because while Judai was worrying about Johan, Johan was worrying about everyone else. Because that’s who he was, and Judai admired him for it.

But did he really think he could take on a group of mers?

Feral mers weren’t all that common—Judai knew of them because each pup was told about them, to warn them not to venture out too far into the depths of the ocean, into the coldest, freezing waters, into the hottest of areas, because that’s where they lurked. Feral mers, with their deep scars and mangled flesh, with their empty eyes and dark aura. The stories never really told of how these mers turned out this way, what caused the shift to happen, if anything could end or reverse it. A lot of them were pale, with long, tangled hair, claws jagged like daggers. A lack of speech was common in the stories that fade into memory. They hunted usually alone, but in the rare times they hunted together they were always told to run. There was no reasoning with them. As long as every mer stays with their pod, they’ll be safe because a pod can overcome any feral mer.

It was always assumed they’d never have to worry about them.

A part of Judai always thought they were just a story the older mers taught the pups to keep them from leaving the pod, another part of Judai always knew if he came to face one, he’d want to fight it.

And now it seems he got his wish.

Judai saw the others start to circle around Johan so he dashed over to him, swimming so they were back to back, not letting Johan go in this alone. He bared his fangs and claws already, ready for any twitch from the other mers. All of his fins were sharp and ready to attack.

They were hunters and they were fast and strong, they were going to be fine.

Probably.

There were only four of them, that meant at best, two for each. Judai was a little worried, as he wasn’t sure how well Johan could fight but now he knew neither of them were going to get out of this without a fight.

Johan bared his claws and fangs, his normally soft and graceful fins spiking around him, keeping the other mers in front of him, Judai close by. They hissed at the newcomers who rattled back, a gurgling, echoing rattle that chilled the red and blue mers.

The two of them didn’t notice the way their glowing markings seemed to pulse along with their heartbeats that synced together. The feral mers with their dark, soulless eyes didn’t care either.

In a flurry of bubbles and fins and tails, Johan and Judai fought back against the feral mers.

* * *

 “Judai, are you ok?” Johan spoke as soon as the last weakened mer swam out of sight, back into the depths. He rushed over to Judai, noting the both of them were breathing a little heavy. Their glowing remained, but it was steady again, instead of a pulsing glow. “Judai, come back to me.”

Johan circled around Judai, tail curling around his as his hands cupped Judai’s face. His eyes were slitted, fangs still out. It took a second for Judai to realize who was in front of him and he blinked, his eyes going back to normal as his fangs and claws receded, his fins flaring out of their spikes.

Judai’s brown eyes met with green ones, and recognition flickered in it. His hands came up to settle over Johan’s. “Are you hurt?”

Johan shook his head, “Not much more than you are,” he pulled back enough to eye some of the gashes, minor cuts and bruises all over the red mer. Johan was in a similar state.

The fight went on for a lot longer than either of them would’ve hoped for, but they came out with their lives and actually, they won since the other mers swam off, hopefully never to return. One had pinned Johan to a jutting of rocks and another came to slice him up but Judai collided with that one to push him away and after Johan freed himself, went after the other two chasing Judai. One of the feral mers swiped at Johan but only managed to get its claws caught on Johan’s bracelet, and pulling from the blue mer caused it to shatter under the force.

Fluorescent pink and electric blue swirled in the dark waters as they went one way and another, trying to outswim the other mers, scratching and swiping, biting and hitting and squirming.

And now they were safe again. Mostly.

Judai immediately started checking Johan over again, “You’re hurt.”

“So are you, let’s get you back to your pod.” Johan insisted, moving one hand from Judai’s cheek so he could brush Judai’s bangs back, then card his fingers through his hair.

Judai relaxed into the touch but shook his head. “Your pod first, then mine.”

“ _Judai_.”

“ _Johan_.”

The red mer, whose breathing had gone back to normal once he noticed Johan’s had as well, once they couldn’t feel a single hint of the feral mers from before, pressed his forehead against Johan’s and curled his tail around the other’s. He never did this back in his own pod, never found someone who made him _want_ to and yet, here he was.

Neither of their cuts were healing right now, despite how close together they were. They didn’t know how it was that Judai managed to heal up Johan’s original wounds, but they were just going to have to make do as they were, get back to their pods, and get treated there. Too much blood in the water would draw too much attention and the last thing they needed was for those same mers to come back. Or anyone else.

Neither of their pod leaders were going to be happy about their appearances, but at least they were alive and they were coming back.

They let the currents carry them for another moment longer until they pulled apart, once more holding hands, and started swimming again.

Judai was swimming with Johan, who started to feel a pull towards his pod, a tiny pinprick in his core guiding him.

“You were pretty amazing,” Judai spoke, to break the silence.

“So were you.” Johan smiled at him, feeling a warmth inside him grow when Judai returned the smile.

“We make a good team.”

“Yeah. We really do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a few false starts, I finally managed to write the next chapter ayyy  
> Ok so, for those following my twitter, you already know I have the next chapter already halfway done which is good because that means it shouldn't take me another month to update lol  
> If all goes well, then there'll be 2 chapters left after this so fingers crossed!  
> Hmmmm wonder who Johan's pod leader is? :D  
> And yes, this is the end of the plot that appeared in the last chapter so like, we'll be back to our regularly scheduled fluff after this lol


	6. Chapter 6

“You’re alive!” was all the warning Johan had before two mers crashed into him and Judai, sending them all tumbling back once they reached the boundary near Johan’s pod.

“Edo, Jim!” Johan greeted them warmly once he realized who was clinging to him. “Sorry if I worried you guys.” He held them close and even kept Judai from squirming out of the hug.

They pulled apart, only for Edo to click in alarm, quickly circling them.

“You’re both hurt! What happened?”

Johan and Judai shared a look. While closing in on Johan’s pod, they thought about how much to tell them about what happened. In the end, they decided honesty was the best route to take.

“A few feral mers showed up and Judai and I had to fight them.”

Edo went to hold Johan close, nuzzling his podmate. “You’d give me gray hair if it wasn’t already.”

Johan grinned and nuzzled him back.

Jim stayed by Judai’s side. “Are you two ok though?”

“We’ll heal up soon,” Judai assured him. He smiled at the way Edo fussed over Johan and Johan let him; they had a good bond.

Jim hummed, eyeing them. “So, this is your glow.”

That’s when Edo pulled away, hands on Johan’s shoulders as he stayed at arm’s length. “Holy—”

“Pretty neat, huh?” Johan’s tail happily wiggled a bit.

Edo looked between a grinning Judai and Johan, and then Jim. Edo quirked a brow at the black and green mer, knowing that Jim would be able to understand his unspoken question. Jim minutely shook his head. The silver mer opened his mouth, then closed it because he didn’t know what to say.

Luckily, Jim cut in. “Johan, I’m glad you’re safe. Judai,” he turned to face him next, “I’m glad you found him and helped bring him back. That being said,” he faced the both of them again, “if you guys had shown up like ten minutes ago, you would’ve made things easier.”

“Why? What happened?”

“You were gone too long and we were forced to tell our leader.”

Judai winced in sympathy. If their leader was anything like Ryou, “Are they mad?”

Johan tapped a finger against his chin in thought. “Rather than mad, she’s probably—”

“Johan!” was the only other warning he got before someone else collided with him, then held him tightly. “Thank goodness you’re safe!”

“Reggie,” Johan greeted, letting himself be squeezed; he was starting to like these excited welcomings. “I’m sorry if my actions caused you any trouble.”

Reggie was a gorgeous mermaid with clear blue eyes and gold hair that matched her gold tail, with dark gold spots and markings running up her forearms. Her tail was spotted with a light blue so light it touched white and her fins were an almost translucent gold. She had white shells on her chest and a bright, white stone in a necklace sat on her collarbone. She had a bracelet with a dark blue gemstone on it. She was small, but her fins were large and sharp, deadly. Her ear fins were also gold with the faintest trace of sky blue at the tips. 

Reggie pulled back from her hug to really check his condition. “Jim and Edo told me you were missing and I see you’re hu—you’re glowing?!” She whirled around at the foreign red mer without letting go of Johan. “You’re glowing too! Wait you’re not one of mine. Who are you?”

Johan gently detached himself from her grasp and swam up beside Judai when he saw the red mer hesitate in front of his leader. “Judai, this is Reggie, my pod leader.” He grinned at her. “We’ve been glowing since we met, isn’t that cool?”

Judai, feeling a little more confident with the blue mer at his side, nodded. “We don’t know why it happens but that’s how I was able to find him.”

Reggie blinked twice. “You don’t—” she turned to Jim and Edo who shook their heads at her unfinished question. “Well,” she cleared her throat, then smiled at the glowing mers, “Why don’t we get your wounds looked at?”

Judai looked sheepish. “Actually, I really should be going. My pod leader already had me under lockdown before I left so I should get back soon before he pops a blood vessel.”

“Absolutely not.” Reggie’s gentle voice became firm and steely as she crossed her arms over her chest. She looked extremely satisfied when Judai squeaked and hid behind a chuckling Johan. “What kind of leader would I be if I let an injured mer travel alone to his pod without getting them checked out first?”

“I was going to go with him,” Johan piped in as the tip of his tail fins casually flicked Judai’s who returned the gesture with a snicker. 

“All the more reason,” Reggie huffed. “The both of you will march into the healing area before getting something to eat. I’ll find something to give your leader before you leave as a thank you for the trouble.”

Johan didn’t hesitate to intertwine his hand with Judai’s and led him into the pod. “Come on Judai, you heard her,” his excitement was palpable and infectious as the previously shy Judai looked eager to explore this new pod. They sped off without a look back.

Reggie shook her head fondly. “Honestly, that those two found each other and don’t even know it.”

“I vote we accompany those two so Johan doesn’t get ambushed again,” Jim spoke up, trying to casually look like he wasn’t scanning the area nearby since Reggie’s arrival. 

“They were ambushed?”

“By feral mers.”

“Gods. I definitely don’t want them going out alone then.”

“Reggie!” came a voice, this time one that startled Jim and had him start looking for the nearest escape route. 

Another gold mer, paler where Reggie was vibrant, with a blue a little darker than hers, showed up. He swam around her in excitement. “I just saw Johan glowing with the red mer he’s with!”

“You’re behind on the news, David.” She grinned at her brother. “Let’s all go eat to celebrate.”

“The glowing or the return?”

“Both.” And with a wave, she swam away in another direction.

David didn’t wait for her to leave before circling the black and green mer who frowned at his failed escape. “Let’s eat lunch together.”

Edo snorted. “The last time you tried that, Karen tried to eat you.”

“Not my proudest moment I’ll admit but—where did Jim go?”

“You’re bad at courting him.” Edo snickered before he swam off, over to where Judai and Johan were getting treated. 

David sighed. He turned around only to startle at seeing a cheerful Karen who immediately started chasing him. He was completely aware she’d never harm him but it never hurt to be cautious. 

Jim watched the mischief from afar and grinned. “Good girl, Karen.”

* * *

 

“So what do you think?” Johan asked after he and Judai were treated with some medicinal salve. The whole time Judai wouldn’t stop looking around in wonder at everyone and everything.

The mermaid who treated them had stared in shock when they first arrived but the glowing mers just attributed that to Johan bringing in a foreign mer. 

They ate a little separated from the pod while Jim, Edo, and Reggie asked about the feral mers. When they finished, they decided to swim around some more.

Others in the pod whispered or chirped but Johan kept talking to Judai to prevent him from feeling overwhelmed by all the attention. 

“It feels like home and yet it’s not,” Judai replied, fingers carding through a plant he was unfamiliar with as they swam through the pod while Johan pointed everything out. “Are there more pods out there?”

They swam until they were far enough away from curious eyes and settled on sandy ground. Judai laid down with his arms spread out and Johan mimicked this, Judai shifting so the two were laying side by side.

“There are, it’s not just our two pods in this big ocean,” Johan said, reaching his right hand out in front of him, opening and closing his fist. Judai’s left hand came up next to his, the red and blue contrasting nicely together. They were so used to the glowing the other had that they didn’t even notice it anymore.

Judai hooked his pinky finger onto Johan’s, idly swinging their hands back and forth through the water as he thought about everything that had happened. “I want to see it all. I used to dream about what kind of creatures lived in the abyss. About what other kind of mers exist out there. We saw and fought feral mers, Johan,” his voice became excited, “I thought those were just stories. Imagine what else could be out there?”

The green in Johan’s eyes twinkled. “Maybe you’ll discover something completely new out there.”

Judai’s tail moved to and fro, lightly kicking up some of the sand and letting it swirl around before it settled. “As soon as I’m ready, I’ll leave my pod.”

“You'll be careful out there, right?”

“I will. I also think after today, I’m strong enough to handle whatever the ocean throws at me.”

Johan’s hand moved so his fingers intertwined with Judai’s. “And you’ll come to visit me?”

A part of Judai had always wanted to go alone to be completely independent out there, only coming back to his pod every once in a blue moon. But another part of him, after meeting Johan, had assumed Johan would want to go with him, so they could experience new things together.

Brown met green, and Judai understood Johan was thinking the same thing. Torn between wanting to stay and travelling with Judai, torn between seeing even beyond what he’d already seen, and staying behind.

Judai sat up, dislodging Johan’s hand but catching it with his own until he held both of Johan’s hands. He squeezed them. “I will.” Maybe they could compromise and take small trips together.

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Reggie began as she swam around them, eyes fond at the way they were holding each other, “But if you’re ready to leave, I have a present for your pod leader.”

Johan curiously swam over to her and stared at the object in her hand. “It’s pretty.”

Reggie held a necklace made of a thin silver chain. At the center of the necklace sat three blue opal stones each in the shape of a teardrop, the one in the center being the biggest one, with the other two of equal, smaller size. It was simple, yet lovely. 

Judai looked between the stones and Johan. “I think that type of stone would look good on you.”

Johan gave a teasing grin. “I thought the red stone looked good on me.”

“They both do. Anything would.” Judai decided. “Don’t think I didn’t notice the bracelet you lost back in the fight, I’ll get you something else.”

“You don’t  _ have  _ to.”

“But I  _ want  _ to.”

Reggie was grinning at them. “You two are funny.” She handed the necklace to Judai. “This is the kind of jewelry I make when meeting other pod leaders. I assume that eventually I’ll get to know him face to face but until then, he can take this.”

Judai took it, flipping it over in his hand, fingers gently rubbing the smooth stones. “What do you mean when meeting other pod leaders?”

“It doesn’t happen very often since pods tend to be pretty spread out, but when I was younger I did meet another pod leader, gave her a necklace I made, and she gave me this bracelet,” She showed them the silver bracelet with a blue goldstone in it, “I don’t know if you know, but leaders before used to have a tradition of gifting things like this to other leaders. It’s a show of goodwill and connection.”

“I don’t think Ryou has ever done or mentioned that before.”

Reggie thought for a minute, “Your leader’s young, right?”

“He’s probably a handful of years older than me.” 

“So maybe he’s a little hesitant still.” She smiled, bright and beautiful, “I’ll go visit him sometime, I think it would do him some good.”

“That’s allowed?”

Reggie laughed, swimming around them, and playfully flicking at their tails. “Of course it is, I’m the leader of my pod and I can do what I want.”

Johan hummed thoughtfully, “Will you leave David in charge in the meantime?”

“Got it in one.” She winked.

Somewhere, not too far from them, David visibly shuddered out of nowhere.

“So, you two about ready to leave?”

Johan nodded at her. “We’ll go get Edo and Jim and meet you by the boundary on the south end.”

She returned the nod and swam off again. 

They watched her leave and Johan led the way to the nursery where Edo and Jim were playing with the pups. 

“Your pod leader is so different than how I imagined her to be,” Judai commented. 

Johan lit up. “She’s pretty great.”

Upon arriving at the nursery, Karen and the pups immediately swarmed them. They all started cooing and chirping at them and their glow. 

Judai stayed back as the pups crowded around Johan and gave him all sorts of seashell crowns and other things they’d made. Johan animatedly talked to all of them, playing with them for a bit before Edo and Jim came back so they could all head out. 

“The pups love him,” Jim commented as the three of them watched Johan comfort the tiniest pup that started crying when Johan tried to leave.

Judai didn’t lift his gaze from his friend. “They really do.”

Reggie met up with them before they left, reminding everyone to be careful and come back once they dropped Judai off. Edo became in charge of the gift once Judai fumbled twice with it and dropped it, Edo having to dash to rescue it. Judai looked sheepish but Edo merely waved off his worries. Reggie ruffled everyone’s hair, even Judai’s, then watched them leave until they were pinpricks in the distance.

As they swam, Johan and Judai swam a little further ahead while Edo and Jim kept their distance a little ways back to give them some privacy.

They did see how playful they were—Judai innocently flicking one of Johan’s fins and dashing off, with Johan chasing him, tagging him, then Judai chasing him in return. They laughed as they circled around each other, pointing things out and playing with the tiny marine life they encountered.

“You think they’ll figure it out?” Edo asked as they watched Judai collide with Johan, sending them both spinning back, laughing. 

“Yeah,” Jim chuckled, “I think they will.”

* * *

 

“I see someone coming,” Asuka announced, startling Manjyome who sprang up. 

He looked ahead and sure enough, Judai’s familiar red flashed in the distance. “I’ll go get Ryou.” And he dashed off, leaving Asuka alone.

She saw another mer beside Judai—this must be that foreign mer he mentioned, the one she saw before—and she also saw two others not too far behind. Her brows furrowed but it didn’t look like Judai was in trouble.

Asuka couldn’t hold back anymore and she rushed out to meet him halfway.

He noticed her coming, giving her a wave but she didn’t stop until she hugged him, holding him close to her as she squeezed him and clicked.

“Judai, I was so worried.”

He patted her back, “You know I’m always ok.” He pulled back with a huge grin. “I brought friends!”

Asuka’s hazel eyes slowly went from the black and silver mers who patiently waited behind Judai with polite smiles, then to the blue mer beside Judai, looking at her with kind eyes. 

_ That’s him _ , she was certain, that’s the mer Judai had been with before, the one that caused Judai’s eyes to light up as he spoke of him. 

Asuka slowly detached herself from Judai’s arms as the blue mer’s tail twitched curiously. She took in their closeness, the way Judai seemed to naturally gravitate to him, the way they  _ glowed _ , gods how had she not figured it out sooner? He’d never seen her courting for what it was, and wouldn’t, if it was her. 

This mer with the blue markings and kind eyes,  _ this  _ one, him and  _ not  _ her, was the best mer for Judai.

Before she knew it, she was drawing him into a hug too, as warm as the one she’d given Judai—she felt him tense for a fraction of a second before relaxing and hugging her back. “Thank you for bringing Judai back and keeping him safe.”

She felt the vibrations in his chest when he chuckled, his arms warm around her. “We kept each other safe.”

Asuka pulled back and greeted all of them. 

She caught a brief understanding in those green eyes, just the barest flicker, and though her heart felt a little heavy, she had her closure here. 

“ _ Judai _ .”

Judai winced, instinct telling him to swim away before logic won out because running from his pod leader would only make things worse. 

But instead of Ryou swimming over to him, as he expected it, his leader instead made a dash over to the three mers that came along with him, his claws and fangs out as his tail swiped at them to push them back. 

They moved out of the way, shrinking back from him and away from Judai, out of range from this angry mer. 

“Who are you?” Ryou turned his narrowed gaze over to his podmate, “How could you bring outsiders to our pod? Don’t you understand how dangerous that is?” He snapped at Judai who frowned at him.

Manjyome, Shou, and Fubuki all came swimming in too, halting near Asuka who looked ready to jump into the fray. 

“They let me into their pod, Ryou, I wasn’t going to just stop them from coming here, they just wanted to make sure I got here safely,” Judai replied, fins sharp and swimming between Ryou and the three others who looked tense, ready to bolt to prevent thing from further escalating. 

Gods, this wasn’t how Judai wanted Ryou and Johan to meet.

“We don’t mean any harm,” Edo began but stopped when Ryou rounded on him. 

“You stay out of this,” he hissed, “You aren’t welcome here.” 

Jim quickly reached a hand out to stop Edo from attacking Judai’s pod leader—the last thing they needed was for a fight to permanently break relations between their two pods. 

Johan swam in front of Edo, blocking Ryou’s sight of him while Judai moved beside Johan, his red glow pulsing again. 

“Ryou—”

“You left after I explicitly told you not to and you bring outsiders to your pod, you put yourself and us in danger,” Ryou’s words were cold, disappointment laced through every one of them as he moved closer to Judai, to stare him down but still keep the foreign mers in his peripheral. 

“I had to, Johan was—”

“This is your  _ pod _ , Judai. Your  _ family _ .”

“I get that but—”

“There are rules you have to follow and leaving isn’t one of of them.”

“I’ll be leaving once I’m of age—”

“And where will you go?”

The two of them swam face to face as they slowly circled each other, fins raised and claws out. Asuka shifted towards them but Fubuki held a hand out, preventing her from getting too close. Johan had both Jim and Edo blocking him from getting near; it wasn’t safe for any of them and Johan was currently on the top of Ryou’s hit list. Shou looked worriedly at Ryou and Judai but knew it wasn’t his place to speak up.

“ _ Anywhere _ Ryou, that’s the point I’m—”

“Judai, you’re not listening to me, it’s dangerous out there.”

“I know, but I can handle myself.”

“Why is it so hard to understand that I just want to keep you safe?” At this point, Ryou took a good look at the red mer. He had the remnants of cuts and bruises all over him and it didn’t take long for Ryou to connect the dots to the blue mer who looked in a similar condition to Judai.

So he whirled around at the foreign mer. “This is  _ your  _ fault.”

Johan nudged his way past his podmates and swam forward a little so they were face to face. “It is my fault Judai left but—”   
“No it isn’t,  _ Johan _ —”

“I am sorry for all the trouble I caused and I never meant for Judai to get hurt—”

“Johan, stop, those feral mers weren’t your fault—”

“Feral mers?!” Judai’s podmates screeched, recoiling in shock. Some of them looked around as if Judai had led them all back to his pod.

The black and silver mers exchanged looks at the lack of tact Judai had. Still, they were ready to step in if his pod leader posed a threat to Johan. 

Ryou rounded on Judai who refused to shrink back. Ryou’s glare had cowarded other, lesser mers but Judai was determined. “You went out there to see feral mers? Are you honestly out of your mind?”

“That’s not why I left but we didn’t just see them, we fought them.”

Johan grimaced. “Judai, I don’t think—”

“Is that what you want? To go out there and be reckless with your life?”

“If you could just let me talk, Ryou. It doesn’t make me happy to think that this is all there is to my life. I’ll leave—”

“And what if you don’t come back? What about your pod?” The fight had left him because he could see Judai wouldn’t budge, not with this. Judai was always his most stubborn podmate and Ryou knew at some point that would come back to bite him, he just didn’t think it would be over  _ this _ . “I’m your leader, Judai, that means I’m supposed to take care of you and keep you safe, how am I supposed to do that if you’re out there?”

“That’s my choice to make and you’ve got to let me make it for myself.” His own fins went back to normal too, sensing Ryou wasn’t mad, he was just worried about him, knowing he had a penchant for getting in trouble. Judai swam over to take Johan’s hand and gently squeeze it while keeping Ryou’s attention. “It’s not all bad out there, too.”

“You’re a good leader,” Johan ventured, catching questioning teal eyes that were much less vicious than they were moments ago. “You care for the safety and well-being of your family, I think that means you’re doing a great job.” He bit his lower lip, hesitating in overstepping as he already wasn’t in good graces with him, but Ryou hadn’t lashed out again, so, “Enforcing the rules is important but there can be exceptions.”

Ryou was silent for several moments, mulling everything over. No one in his pod had ever wanted to leave like this; he wished he’d known sooner how Judai felt about leaving so maybe he could’ve done  _ something  _ but figured nothing would’ve helped. No one in his pod had ever brought outsiders before either and he was wary of them but Judai had so much trust in this— _ ah _ .

Of course.

_ Of course _ Judai would be the only one in his pod to find the one mer meant for him out there, beyond what he knew.

Honestly, Ryou was surprised he didn’t notice it sooner.

If Judai had found his soulmate outside the pod, it’s no wonder he always felt a pull to leave, a pull to keep going, even after finding him.

All the mers waited for a response. 

Gods, he wished this would’ve been a private conversation but he didn’t think the outcome would’ve changed either way.

Ryou’s teal eyes went from mer to mer, even the foreign ones, until they finally settled on Judai’s. 

He gave a deep, resigned sigh and eventually nodded once.

Judai immediately cheered, zipping forward to give his leader a quick hug before returning to the blue mer’s side. After that, all the mers started talking at once.

“Can’t believe he fought feral mers and is crazy enough to want to go back out there,” Manjyome shook his head, swimming over to Asuka whose expression looked conflicted. “You ok?”

She turned to him and smiled, just a little strained. “I will be.”

Shou sighed, a hand on his chest. “I was worried this wasn’t going to end well.”

Fubuki clapped a hand on the yellow mer’s shoulder, reassuring. “I don’t think it would’ve come to blows or anything but I’m impressed they were able to mostly talk that out. I’m sure they’ll talk more later, in private.” He turned to his sister, brown eyes questioning. She shook her head and let him kindly ruffle her hair, like when they were younger. She would need time but he knew she would be ok in the end.

“I was worried Judai was a lost cause after that feral bit,” Jim raked a hand through his hair, relieved.

“Pod leaders aren’t so scary when you realize they’re just very stressed out softies,” Edo replied, shrugging.

“You were ready to fight him.”

“Lies.” Edo feigned innocence. “Oh that reminds me.” He swam up to Ryou who was off to the side from all of them and was eyeing him warily. Edo ignored the look and held out the necklace. “From our leader, Reggie. She sends her apologies for all the trouble we caused.”

Ryou cautiously took it after Edo made no movement to take it back. Ryou had to admit it was a lovely necklace even if he wasn’t one for wearing them. “Tell her I say thank you, she didn’t need to worry about that.”

Edo snorted. “Right, because you welcomed us with open arms.”

Ryou gave this silver mer a once-over, narrowing his eyes at the over-familiarity. “I wouldn't have harmed you.”

“Sure didn’t look that way, but who knows who would’ve harmed who.”

Ryou frowned in response.

“For the record,” Edo put his hands up in defense, drawing attention to the silver markings that crawled up his forearms, ending just below his elbows, “I think you’re a good leader too, just an overprotective softie.” He laughed at Ryou’s indignant expression and dashed over to Jim’s side before Ryou could reply.

Jim elbowed Edo who retaliated by smacking him with his tail. The black and green mer gave him a knowing smirk before Edo clicked, as he crossed his arms over his chest and pointedly looked away. 

Johan and Judai, meanwhile, were talking about the possibilities in the unknown. They were huddled up close, relieved, and Judai paused in his excitement to reach over to cup Johan’s cheek.

“You alright?”

Neither noticed the attention they suddenly attracted from everyone else, their voices hushing to hear them.

“I should be asking you that.” Johan set his hand over Judai’s, just like they’d gotten used to doing.

“Everything worked out.”

“That’s true.”

“Now I’ll be able to go see you more often.”

Johan nodded. “Maybe I could come visit too?”

Judai pulled back to take his hand instead, turning them both so they could see Ryou. “Johan can come visit, right?

Ryou hesitated, instincts wanting to deny it, but he didn’t want a repeat of earlier. “At this point, I don’t see why not.”

The red and blue mers high fived.

“You know, Judai,” Ryou began, “You wouldn’t have had to sneak out so much if you would’ve just told me the truth.”

Everyone else was suddenly alert barring the two in his line of sight.

“About Johan? I  _ did  _ tell you, you still didn’t want me to leave.”

“You didn’t tell me everything.”

“Yes I did, I told you I made a friend outside the pod.”

Ryou sighed again. He could feel the beginnings of a migraine coming along. “I might have,” he cleared his throat, “been a little easier on you if I had known you were sneaking off to see your soulmate.”

Judai looked at Johan who was just as surprised as he was, before turning back to his leader. 

“My what?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rewrote 2 of these scenes twice but I think I got it eventually ??   
> I haven't read the gx manga at all but I wanted Johan's leader to be a girl and since GX doesn't have that many main girls, with my friend's help (thank you Emerald~) I decided on Reggie. I also don't know what her personality is like at all so I just had a little fun with her :D  
> Ryou turned into such a dad here asfalkdf I tried to make his uh strictness sound reasonable, but I had trouble with that scene lol  
> And finally someone reveals that these two are soulmates! So I'll finally get to talk a little more about that in the next and final chapter ! This chapter was a lot longer than I intended but hopefully so will the next chap :D  
> Can't believe I'm so close to the end at last ahaha


	7. Chapter 7

A soulmate is a rare thing to find in the ocean, happening so little that it’s become a bedtime story pups hear. Sometimes, even that has faded.

The glowing, that’s usually the first thing the stories tell. Whatever color a mer is, whatever colors decorate their beings, something in them reacts, lights up all vibrant and lively when a mer encounters their soulmate. It’s the most obvious sign, something the goddess felt merciful enough to give. The glowing signals the mer’s fated match in the vast ocean; it means they were lucky to find them.

The _pull_ happens too; the desire and want to go out there and find them, because they exist but they have to be found because chances are they won’t just stumble into your path. Whether they’re from the same pod or not, something draws them to each other, and they might not even be aware of it.

Soulmates can heal each other, under certain circumstances. The stories rarely tell of the healing and if they do they’re vague about it. Old scars can be healed by their soulmate if the proper procedure is done, new wounds can be healed by something as simple as a touch, something as soft as a kiss. No one knows why this happens, but those of days long past figured the goddess was kind enough to give them this gift. Not every pair can heal though, but it’s up to each pair to find out if they’re one of them or not.

Soulmates are never found if they’re sought; they’re a fated pair so fate has to bring them together.

The glowing doesn’t just signal they’re around, it can also sync to the other mer, usually emotionally. If the two are on the same wavelength, their glowing dims and brightens together, but not always. Even from a distance, if the bond is strong enough, one’s emotions will reverberate with the other’s, will hint at what they’re feeling, amplifying each other’s feelings.

The stories never tell of the bond, the connection the soulmates have. That feeling of being complete without ever having felt like they weren’t before.

The stories never mention how rare they are, to the point where they’re assumed to have been just a legend because there hadn’t been a pair of soulmates in several generations across the ocean.

Judai and Johan felt the eyes of their podmates around them, shying under interested and incredulous gazes.

They hadn’t known there had been a name to what they had.

“Are you actually telling me you didn’t know?” Ryou ventured to ask, breaking the silence and drawing everyone’s attention to him. He didn’t actually _want_ to believe that they didn’t really—actually, everything would make a lot more sense now.

Johan and Judai looked at each other, unsure.

“Um,” Judai started, “No?”

“What did you morons think the glowing meant?” Manjyome asked, crossing his arms over his chest with a huff. Asuka elbowed him in the side and he winced.

Johan turned to Jim, eyes searching before, “You knew, didn’t you?”

Jim smiled sheepishly, shrugging. “I honestly thought you knew at first, then figured what you had was already enough for the two of you without the extra information.”

Edo nodded in agreement, tail lazily moving side to side, “Because you had _tact_ ,” he gave Ryou a pointed look.

Ryou, who normally would’ve ignored the look or at least sent one back, put his hands up in defense and scowled at the silver mer. This one loved pushing his buttons. “They might never have realized if I didn’t say anything.”

“So does that explain why they were so drawn to each other?” Sho asked, thinking back to when Judai first met the blue mer, and how close they had gotten even when Sho had to drag Judai back home.

Judai felt Johan tense next to him, noticed his glowing dim a little under everyone’s scrutiny. Judai gripped his hand a little more tightly then slowly let it go, swimming in front of him to block him from everyone’s view.

“Are you guys done?” He clicked, crossing his arms over his chest. He startled everyone when his fins started to sharpen, but a touch from Johan had him calming down again. Judai glanced back at him and Johan shook his head, preventing Judai from getting upset.

“I think it’s time we head back,” Johan spoke, nodding over at his podmates who swam towards him. He faced Ryou, with a kind smile. “Thank you for allowing us to be here.”

Ryou couldn’t help but feel a little guilty at the intensity of his earlier actions, but this mer seemed to have noticed that and shook his head, telling him all was well.

“You’re leaving already?” Judai took his hand again, almost to get him to stay, but Johan’s glow brightened a fraction.

“We’ve helped open up a connection between our pods, I think things will change from now on.”

“I know, but…” Judai didn’t know what he wanted to say, didn’t know what to do next. He was torn between asking Johan to stay a little longer and asking to go with him, but he knew neither would work right now.

“We should probably talk to our pod leaders,” the blue mer suggested, seeing the way Ryou nodded once in response.

“I’ll come see you,” Judai promised, squeezing Johan’s hand one last time before the other mer started slowly pulling away.

“It was nice meeting everyone,” Johan said to the rest of Judai’s podmates who were still watching them. He normally didn’t feel shy under this kind of attention, but he needed a moment to think about things. He was sure Judai needed one too.

They watched as the three foreign mers started to swim away, Judai swimming a little after them, stopping just enough to be separate from his pod. They watched as the glow between him and Judai stayed strong for a while, until Johan was just out of sight. They watched Judai’s fluorescent pink markings become red again.

Judai startled when Ryou placed a hand on his shoulder. “We should talk.”

Judai eventually agreed and followed his pod leader, the two of them swimming far away and out of sight from the others.

Fubuki let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “I never thought Judai would be the one of us to find a soulmate.” He glanced over at Asuka, at her expression. A part of him had hoped Judai wouldn’t break his little sister’s heart but fate had other plans for them. What was a podmate to a soulmate?

Besides, if she wanted, she could take any mate she wanted, and if Ryou was going to let up on the boundary ban, then maybe there would be someone out there for her too.

He watched as Manjyome swam to Asuka and she gave him a soft smile.

Or maybe there’d be someone here for her.

“Do you think we’d be able to go visit their pod?” Sho asked.

The others thought for a bit.

“It depends what happens with Judai,” Asuka replied, looking in the direction Judai and Ryou had gone, unable to see a hint of them. “I hope so, I never thought we’d be able to but if we can I’m curious about what’s out there. I’m curious about other pods.”

Fubuki winced, “Please don’t tell me you’re gonna run off like Judai does.”

Asuka chuckled, shaking her head. “No but, just think of what’s out there. Maybe one day I’ll go.”

“I’ll go with you,” Manjyome offered, “That is, if you want my company.”

She smiled at him.

* * *

“What you’ve done so far was reckless, you realize that, right?” Ryou spoke once the two had settled far away from any prying eyes. He clicked at him, tone a little chastising.

Judai took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. This wasn’t a talk he actually wanted to have but knew he couldn’t run away from it again. They were sitting on a large rock mass, facing each other a few feet apart. Judai’s tail curled and uncurled on its own. “I do.”

“I would’ve been a little more lenient had I known he was your soulmate, but you can’t just run off like that everytime.” Ryou continued, watching for his reactions. “It’s dangerous out there,” he held a hand up, preventing Judai from speaking up, “I get that you can handle yourself and I’m frankly horrified that you not only saw but fought feral mers but you still have to understand that there’s a lot of stuff out there that we don’t even know is out there. The stories all originate from truth somewhere down our histories, who knows what’s happened in all that time since?”

Judai’s ear fins twitched. “That’s part of why I want to go out there. I found Johan out there and his pod _and_ more. I want to explore, Ryou. I can’t just stay here forever. Finding Johan was that last bit of motivation I needed. If he’s what I found when I ventured out too far, what else could be waiting for me?”

Ryou pursed his lips in a frown. He couldn’t really figure out why Judai was filled with so much wanderlust. He supposed he was lucky that out of his whole pod, Judai was the only one who was so vocal about wanting to leave. He didn’t know what it was about the ocean that called out to Judai so much, and he’d rather not have him leave at all, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop him. If he tried to stop him, there was a chance he might not come back.

“Would you make Johan’s pod your own?”

Judai looked up at him, thoughtful. “This is my pod. But Johan is my soulmate,” he paused after that word, as if trying to connect what he had to Johan to this that explained it. “I wasn’t even into soulmates at all before him. Didn’t care for the stories, wasn’t worried about finding mine or not. And then I met him and,” he shrugged, “Something just clicked with him; everything felt right with him.”

Ryou hummed, aware that Judai never seemed to have any interest for anything that wasn’t exploring or hunting. “Has your mindset changed?”

Judai nodded. “I’m thankful for having him in my life. And I felt welcome in his pod,” Judai side eyed his pod leader, “I was worried you wouldn’t welcome him,” And he didn’t, not at first, but if Johan could forgive him for it, then so would he, “But I’d like it if he could feel like that here too.”

Ryou stayed quiet, mulling things over. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

“I trust him with everything, Ryou. I really do believe he’s a genuinely good mer, him and his pod. I don’t think the goddesses would put me with someone that wasn’t.” His fins shifted, growing restless as he thought.

“Are you alright?” Ryou had noticed the way Judai’d been digging his claws into the rocks—he wasn’t even sure the red mer knew he was doing it.

“I don’t want things to change.” Which went against what Judai wanted for everything else, so it threw him off. “I thought we were just us, you know?”

“You still are, though.” Ryou sighed. This was all a part of being a pod leader, being able to talk his podmates through things, being able to give advice, but they were all going in pretty blind. Especially in this. “You’re just a pair who happened to find each other,” he looked away, “and the ones to help me be a little more open to change.”

“Is this what you wanted to do, when you were younger?”

His leader’s tail twitched, surprised by the question. He and Judai weren’t the closest of podmates and the talks they had were mostly the kind where Ryou was lecturing Judai on not following the rules. This was new territory for them. He spoke carefully, “I didn’t think I’d become the pod leader so soon. My mom passed on so suddenly and she had already started implementing rules about leaving. I guess I just thought if I continued down that route everything and everyone would be happy.” He recalled Sho being a tiny pup still when they got the news. Teal eyes looked into brown ones. “This is my role and it’s enough that I’m doing it.”

Judai hummed, looking out into the distance. He had to talk to Johan later, something in him told him Johan was feeling anxious about this like he was. But that would come after. Finally he asked, “Then, are we good?”

“We are.” Ryou sighed, “Just try to be safe out there, alright?”

Judai grinned, finally an expression Ryou was used to seeing. “I’ll try my best.”

* * *

The swim back to their pod had been a quiet one, with Johan swimming a little further ahead than Jim and Edo, who made sure to keep an eye out for him. They didn’t want to intrude on his thoughts and gave him his space, knowing he was going to want to talk to Reggie when he got back home.

“Think they’ll be ok?” Edo quietly asked, watching when a couple of shark pups came up to play with Johan while their mom watched on. It seemed Johan was a magnet for marine life.

“They’re a little surprised right now, but I think things’ll work themselves out.” The black and green mer replied. “But you, messing with their leader, you were trying to rile him up”

Edo blushed but feigned ignorance. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I’d like to see that play out.” Jim grinned, looking over at Johan swim around a few times with the shark pups before herding them back to their mom so they could be on their way.

“Oh yeah? What about you and David?”

“The joke there is that you think there’s something with me and David.” Jim easily replied but he looked away from the silver mer who didn’t buy it.

They arrived back at their pod and Johan thanked them, hugging both of them close before swimming off to go find Reggie.

“Oh Johan!” She smiled when she saw him, holding her arms out for a hug. “Welcome back!”

Johan let her hug him, sighing into her embrace. She felt the tension rolling off him so she pulled back and frowned.

“How did it go?”

“Did you know Judai and I were soulmates?”

Reggie made an “oh” expression and took his hand, guiding them out to a sandy area far away from other mers once Edo and Jim nodded and waved at her. They knew Johan needed some time with their pod leader. “Well, I thought at first you both knew, then when I saw you didn’t, I figured I’d let things play out on their own.” She assumed something happened at the red mer’s pod but considering he didn’t come back hurt, maybe it wasn’t too bad. “Are you unhappy with it?”

“No, no, it’s not that.” Johan sighed, his fins flaring open and closing in distress. “I thought soulmates were supposed to be together?”

Reggie carefully spoke, “You aren’t together?”

Johan’s eyes gazed out into the distance, in the same direction he was sure Judai’s pod was in, several leagues away. “We’re very close but I thought where one soulmate went the other had to go, the stories never told them of them being apart.”

Reggie’s tail fins flickered back and forth, patient with her podmate. “That’s not necessarily true, probably. I mean the couple of stories that I heard passed to your generation of pups were just that there was someone out there for those lucky few and you’re extremely lucky to have found yours but it doesn’t mean you have to be with him _all_ of the time.” She reached a hand out, gently placing it over his and causing him to meet her eyes. “What’s bothering you, really?”

Johan bit his lower lip in thought and Reggie saw, in a bit of fear. “I’m a hunter here, this is my home and as much as I enjoy going out and exploring, this is the place I always come back to. I have my responsibilities here.” The pups adored him and were attached, he didn’t know what they’d think if he left one day and never came back. “But I want to be with him too.”

“I was under the impression you had talked that out before,” Reggie began, raising a brow.

“We did, but that was before…” Johan trailed off. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that we’re soulmates, I am, I just don’t want things to change.”

“Things don’t have to change,” She smiled at him, “Whatever you decide to do, you know you'll always have a home here. You two just keep doing what you’re doing, you’ve already worked everything out before knowing about the soulmate part, I trust that you two will be just fine in the future too.” She raised his hand with hers, then put her other hand on the other side, gently squeezing it. “I’ve never heard of a pair like you two, y’know? The goddesses have especially taken a liking to you,” she grinned at Johan’s faint blush, “Talk it out next time you see him, alright?”

Johan slowly nodded, his colors brightening just a fraction, just enough to show he hadn’t been feeling his best up till now. Reggie wondered if Judai could feel it; if they were both feeling similarly nervous and worried and were amplifying each other’s emotions.

“Thanks Reggie,” he smiled at her and she grinned, knowing that he’d be ok.

“So, other than this wonderful news, tell me what happened. I wanna know all about their pod leader.”

* * *

Judai didn’t know when he’d be able to see Johan next, but it took a month for him to find something he’d been looking for.

These humans tossing their pretty stones into the ocean sure made it easy for him to find something that was perfect.

He actually found other things too, all in a tiny box in a long-sunken ship, but those could wait for another time, when he needed them.

He swam back home and Sho and Asuka were there to greet them.

“What’s that?” Sho asked, staring at the small metal box in Judai’s hands.

“Some human box full of pretty stones and things,” Judai opened it to show them and they both stared in awe.

“What do you need those things for?” Asuka asked, swimming with him as Judai started off for the area he usually relaxed in when he wasn’t out hunting or exploring.

“I wanna make something for Johan, back when we fought those feral mers he lost a bracelet, so I wanted to get him a new one.”

Asuka and Sho shared a look. Gifting another mer shiny and pretty objects could be considered part of the courting process.

Sho opened his mouth to speak but Asuka discreetly shook her head, letting Judai go off to make whatever it is he was making.

She was happy for him.

“Do you think he still cares about us?” Sho and Judai had grown up together and Sho expected Judai would always be around, always be his closest friend, but then Johan showed up and Judai suddenly only had attention for that mer. He felt a little lonely, now. He thought Judai’d always stick around because that’s just what happened in their pod but of course Judai _would_ be the only one to break that mold.

Asuka let her tail fins flick his, “Judai’s got a lot of room in that heart of his for all of us. Johan’s just the one with the biggest piece.”

Sho clicked, eventually agreeing with her.

* * *

“How do you know you’ll see him?” Jim asked, watching as Johan made sure the gift he had was secure. They were by the boundaries of their pod, with Karen circling around them, checking to make sure all was clear before they let Johan go out there again.

“I don’t,” Johan shrugged, “I just hope that I do and usually we bump into each other.”

Jim shook his head, chuckling. “You don’t even know how lucky you are.”

Johan grinned. “I do, I’m very thankful to the goddesses.” He fiddled with the ruby necklace Judai had first gifted him. “I’m not sure what would’ve happened if we hadn’t met out there, but I’m grateful I don’t have to find out.”

Jim smiled at him, swimming up to him so he could ruffle Johan’s hair. “You’re happy, right?”

“I am.” And Johan’s smile was bright, so Jim knew he really was.

“Alright, are you sure you don’t need one of us to guide you out there?”

“I’m not a pup anymore,” Johan teased, clicking.

“No, but you get into as much trouble as one,” Edo said as he swam up to them to see Johan off.

Johan grinned at them, not completely denying it.

“Alright, be safe out there.”

“Will do!” And he swam off, in hopes of seeing Judai out in the depths of the ocean.

* * *

The glowing gave them away and Johan rushed forward, letting that something, that _pull_ guide him out to Judai again.

They hadn’t seen each other since they went to each other’s pods and Johan was sure they’d finally get to see each other tonight.

In the dark of the ocean before them, he saw that fluorescent pink that pulsed like his own electric blue. There was his soulmate, his best friend and the one the oceans had brought to him.

Johan felt warm as he really thought about that, _his soulmate_.

“Johan!”

“Judai!”

The two of them easily came together right after that, slowing down until they were close enough to wrap their arms around each other, until they brought each other close together.

Somewhere they had briefly thought that maybe things would be awkward between them, maybe things wouldn’t be the same anymore. But it felt so right, seeing each other again.

Johan pulled back a little, just enough to raise a hand to cup Judai's cheek, watching him lean into the touch.

“I’ve missed you.” Judai spoke first, placing his hand over Johan’s.

“I missed you too." They got closer together as Judai lowered their hands.

“Oh! I have something for you!” Judai clicked in excitement, pulling away a little.

Johan grinned, “I have something for you too.”

Judai's tail flicked quickly, excited. He took off the bracelet he'd been wearing and held it out to him. “Here, to replace the one that broke back then.”

Johan’s eyes turned fond as he carefully took the bracelet. It was a silver chain with three beautiful fire opal stones in the middle, the kind that were a soft blue with green streaking through it as Johan moved it around to see the changes in color.

A faint red dusted Judai's cheeks as he cleared his throat, “I saw that stone and it reminded me of you.” That he found more of that stone was a happy coincidence.

“I love it,” Johan said genuinely. He held it back out to Judai. “Put it on for me?”

The red mer took it and carefully opened the clasp so he could put it on Johan’s wrist. He hadn't been kidding when he said that stone reminded him of Johan since those were his colors. Judai knew he had to give it to him, knew it wouldn't look good on anyone else. It fit so well against the markings on Johan’s hands. He made sure it was secure before grinning up at Johan who held something with his other hand.

“I made this for you.”

Judai put his open palms under Johan’s hand and watched the blue mer place something in his hands.

It was a necklace, also on a silver chain. In the middle it also had three stones, all oval but with the bigger one in the middle, and two smaller ones beside it. They were dragon's breath opals, red on the outside with a streak of blue in the middle.

“It's beautiful." Judai looked into green eyes. “Help me with it?”

Johan nodded and Judai turned around, brushing back the ends of his hair around his neck so Johan could properly close it.

“Judai,” Johan began, once the two were sure the other had their gifts secured so they wouldn’t fall off.

Judai noticed that change in tone, the way his glowing pulsed for a second, and he could tell the two were about to have a talk, so he took Johan’s hand and guided him out to a rock formation so they could both sit down. He wasn’t sure if they should sit across from each other, but Johan didn’t let go of his hand so Judai sat beside him. He let the long fins at the end of his tail playfully touch Johan’s ruffled fins before looking up into those vibrant green eyes.

“I wanted to know what you thought about all this.” He bit his lower lip, unsure.

Judai reached out to cup Johan’s face with his other hand and gently thumbed at his lip to get him to stop biting it. He didn’t want to see him stressed like this, “Do you mean our pods calling us soulmates?”

Johan nodded.

“Well, it’s not something I ever thought of before, I just figured I’d go through my life and do my own thing and leave my pod.” Judai paused for a bit. “I like the way my life turned out instead though.” He grinned. “I have my pod, and I have you.”

Johan clicked, relieved. “I was worried you’d feel I would tie you down.”

“What? No, never!” Judai quickly disagreed, noticing the way his red markings stood out against Johan’s cheek. He liked it. “Johan, you know me better than anyone else does, I would never put that kind of pressure on you.”

“I’d like to hear all about your adventures, from out there, further than any of us have gone before,” Johan said, “Sometimes, I’d like to come along? But I’m torn because I have my pod and my responsibilities. But I’d also really miss you.”

“I’ll go out there because that’s what I want to do with my life, but I’ll come back too, I’ll always come back to you.” Judai reassured, leaning forward so they could press their foreheads together.

“If you come with me, I’ll love that, but I don’t want you to feel like you have to tag along with me.”

“I also don’t want you to feel like I’ve abandoned you,” Johan said, closing his eyes as Judai did the same.

“You won’t. You keep me balanced, Johan.”

Their glow faded into soft, muted colors before glowing back full force.

“I like that we’re soulmates,” Johan said, pulling back a bit and opening his eyes so he could see the red mer. The mer that had so easily and so naturally come to him, the one he bonded with. This adventurous and kind mer he was lucky enough to have met. “I like that there’s a name to this, but I also like things as they are.”

Judai opened his eyes as well and nodded. He raised a hand and Johan brought his up too, the two of them interlacing their fingers, watching the way red met blue. They smiled.

Things didn’t have to change between them, and if they did, things would figure themselves out, too.

That’s just how things worked out with them. And they liked it this way.

* * *

“Johan’s missing again,” was the first thing Edo said upon Judai’s arrival to their pod.

Somehow Johan and Judai knew when they were going to see each other again—Johan had told Reggie to keep an eye out for his red mer in the next couple of days because he knew Judai’d be coming. Judai had gotten permission to go this time, with Asuka and Manjyome trailing along with him until the other pod was in sight. They didn’t quite feel ready to see this other pod so they left once Judai gave them the ok.

Judai’s brows furrowed, his ear fins twitching. “He’s what?”

“He went out last night to hunt some extra food for the pups and hasn’t come back,” Edo sounded stressed and tired, like he stayed up all night hoping his podmate would come back.

“I’ll go look for him,” Judai said, his fins turning sharp and deadly, claws out and ready to take anything down as he was about to turn around and go back out into the ocean depths.

Edo reached a hand out to stop him, “Wait, do you even know where to start looking? I feel like your pod leader will kill me in particular if you go missing too.”

Judai grinned, “He won’t, and I think I’ll be able to find my soulmate, I already did after all.” And with a flick of his tail, he was off, a red blur into the dark depths, somehow taking the exact same exit route Johan had taken the night before.

Jim and David came up to Edo, all of them watching the red mer dart off before he faded out of sight.

“One has a penchant for always leaving his pod and the other for going missing, what a pair,” David commented with a shake of his head.

Edo narrowed his eyes at him, suspicious. “How do you know that?” It wasn’t like it was common knowledge what these two did as they didn’t share everything with their pods, just their closest friends who kept their words secret because they weren’t apt to being in the constant spotlight in the two pods.

Jim coughed and avoided Edo’s gaze once he swam right in front of him. The silver mer crossed his arms over his chest and quirked a brow, unimpressed.

“I better go find Karen, I’m sure she’d like to help out and search for Johan too,” Jim said and swam off.

Edo clicked, then turned his gaze onto David who smiled innocently. Edo pointed to both his eyes then pointed to both of David’s, clicking once in warning.

David chuckled once Edo had left then froze when he felt something bumping into him from behind. He yelped when he saw it was Karen and he swam away from there.

If Karen could laugh, she would have.

* * *

Judai remembered the first time Johan had gone missing. He remembered the way he’d felt—nervous, anxious, worried, angry at being unable to find him at first. He remembered the way he’d felt a layer of emotions, ones he wasn’t used to feeling and couldn’t quite parse through. There was worry yes, but a bit of resignation, of dismay and a little pain.

He knew now those were Johan’s emotions he’d been experiencing—they’d mixed in with his and he hadn’t even noticed there were someone’s else feelings merging with his own. It was faint, hardly noticeable, but it was there.

Judai knew that if anyone told him before he’d be privy to someone else’s feelings like this, he’d want to get as far away from whatever was causing it as possible.

But now, knowing it was Johan he was sharing this with, however muted and distant though it was, he wasn’t scared. He knew himself and knew Johan and knew they were two sides of the same soul.

So that’s why he wasn’t as worried as he was the first time Johan went missing. None of the fearful undercurrents were there this time. Nothing felt like Johan was in danger.

Judai wasn’t quite sure how he knew, but he did.

So when he started glowing that same fluorescent pink as before, he smiled because it meant he was close. They were going to get to see each other again after nearly a month of being away.

He could see a spot of electric blue glowing in the distance and Judai sped even more, eager to see his friend.

Johan barely had time to notice the glow, lifting his head up and looking back in question before Judai collided into him.

“Johan!”

“Judai!” Johan grinned, his glow brightening even more and hugging the red mer back. They spun a little in place, the tips of their tails twirling together before coming apart. “What are you doing here?”

“What am _I_ doing here? What are _you_ doing here? Your pod told me you were missing again.”

Johan finally seemed to notice that it hadn’t just been a couple hours since he left his pod and he blushed sheepishly. “Oops, I didn’t mean to make you all worry, I’m ok this time, I promise.”

“I know,” Judai replied, chocolate brown meeting with lively green. And the way he so easily said that because it’s true, he _did_ know, had Johan smiling and pull him close again.

They stayed like that for a while, Judai’s face in the crook of Johan’s neck, Johan’s cheek pressed to the top of Judai’s head, arms around each other.

“How did you find me?”

“I’ll always find you.”

He’d echoed the same words from before and they were _true_. Judai would always find him. They would find each other. They had a home in each other, regardless of where they were.

They pulled apart a little, brown meeting green.

A dolphin chirped behind them, startling them and breaking the moment as they both looked back to see what happened.

“Oh right,” Johan said, grinning, “This is the reason I forgot to come home last night.”

There was a variety of marine life around them, all watching the two of them curiously. Judai sensed no threat from any of them. There was a turtle, a dolphin, a tigershark, a stingray, a seahorse, a catfish, and a small whale.

Judai blinked, impressed by the collection. “Why is…?”

Johan pointed to the small dolphin that chirped, actually, they were all small. They looked like they were babies still. “I found that one while I was out hunting and helped her look for her family and,” he smiled, “This is her family.”

Judai watched as they all played together, as the small dolphin came up to them, swam in circles around them as she chirped, then went back to the other animals.

Judai switched his gaze to Johan, eyes fond. “Why am I not surprised about this?”

Johan chuckled. “I've been told I'm a magnet for trouble.”

Judai snorted. “That makes two of us.”

Their glowing pulsed together, happy. Judai took Johan’s hand, gently pulling him along.

“We should get back to your pod.”

Johan nodded, turning to his newfound friends. “I'll see you all later ok? I promise I'll come back.”

The animals wasted no time in happily swarming them, making Johan giggle at their antics.

“Yes, yes, I love you all too.”

Once the animals were convinced Johan was in good hands and would keep his word about coming back, they let the two mers swim away together.

Judai asked how Johan came to find that group and Johan told him how sweet they all were. He found them some food and once they were all fed, they went and found lots of food for him in return. They were super playful and a happy bunch and Johan felt safe with them.

“They're all gonna grow up so fast, I'm excited to see what'll happen.”

They eventually closed in on Johan’s pod and were ambushed by Edo knocking them over in a hug.

“I need to put a leash on you.” Edo huffed, checking over Johan for any injuries, then doing the same to Judai.

“Gonna need a long leash,” Johan piped up, laughing when Edo smacked him with his tail.

“Should I tell Ryou you're into leashes?” Jim asked as he and Karen popped in on them. Johan and Jim shared grins at the expense of the silver mer.

“Ryou?” Judai blinked in confusion, “Why Ryou?”

The other two laughed at his response.

“I hate the both of you.” Edo smacked Jim with his tail too and crossed his arms over his chest, sapphire blue eyes narrowed at him.

Johan put an arm around Judai's shoulders, guiding him away from them. “Let's get going.”

That snapped Edo out of his fit and he clicked at them. “You just got here, where are you going?”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” Johan assured, “We’re just gonna go exploring for a bit near the underwater cave I found last year.”

Judai’s tail started moving faster in anticipation, “We talked about visiting those sometime and now we finally can!”

“Yeah, both Reggie and Ryou gave us permission to do this.”

Edo and Jim shared a look and smiled at them, “Don’t get into too much trouble you two.”

“No promises!”

And off they went, holding hands as they dashed through the waters, at speeds that kicked the other’s desire for adventure even more.

* * *

Judai’s head popped out of the water and he relished in the chill night breeze ruffling his hair. He moved so he was floating on top the water, staring up at the multitude of stars glittering in the night sky.

He closed his eyes once he felt the water beside him ripple at Johan’s entrance. The blue mer let out a small gasp at the sight before him.

“They’re beautiful,” he commented, looking from the stars to Judai, then he mimicked his position so the two were floating side by side, in opposite directions, their faces next to each other. Johan turned his head so he could see Judai looking at peace.

“They are,” Judai agreed, opening his eyes but looking over at Johan, chocolate brown eyes fond. “The night we met, I had spent some time up here, just looking at the outside world.” He glanced back up at the sky. “I knew I would get in trouble for it, but I just wanted to come out here and see the moon and stars. They were beautiful,” he paused, “I could smell that it was going to rain soon. I wanted to stay out longer but I heard something in the water, something not too far from me.”

Johan’s glow brightened as he smiled. “That something was me.”

Judai brought a hand up and let it card through the back of Johan’s hair, smiling at him. “Look at us.”

The two of them stayed floating on the water like that, far from any prying eyes, the two of them lost together in their own little corner of the ocean, with the moon and stars glittering above them.

“Judai?”

“Hm?”

And in a blur of movements, Johan had spun around so he was able to wrap an arm around Judai’s waist before pulling them both back under the water. Judai laughed, letting Johan bring him close as he wrapped his arms around Johan’s neck. The two giggled and spun and tumbled through the water, going further and further down.

They eventually stopped, still holding each other, Judai looking up at Johan. Judai, acting on instinct, leaned up a little, eyes zeroed in on Johan’s lips. Johan leaned down, tilting his head a bit to the side, and the two of them paused, lips barely a breath apart. They very gently pressed their lips together, feeling the warmth from the other, then pulled apart for an instant, staring at each other.

They closed their eyes and kissed again, hesitant for a moment before their lips started slowly sliding against each other’s. Johan pulled Judai in comfortably closer so their bodies were flush as Judai raised a hand to put it to the back of Johan’s head, holding him close. Judai caught Johan’s bottom lip between his lips and he smiled into the kiss once he let it go. Johan chuckled, kissing him sweetly this time, as the two let themselves be carried by the gentle ocean current. Judai’s heart beat faster when Johan let out a tiny gasp.

They kissed for a little bit longer until they finally pulled away again, Johan softly kissing him one last time.

Brown met green and they even noticed their glowing pulsed in sync with the other, and maybe it was in sync with their racing hearts.

“That was…”

“Yeah.”

They smiled at each other.

That was perfect.

* * *

“You’ve done real good, for a kid,” Reggie greeted as she first swam across the boundary of Ryou’s pod, along with Johan and Edo. Johan went straight to find Judai and left the two pod leaders to have their talk.

Ryou bristled, his fins turning sharp. “I’m not a kid.” He didn’t want to admit he’d been nervous about meeting another pod leader, especially in his own pod and had been stressing all morning.

Reggie grinned at him, hands up in defense, “I didn’t mean that in a bad way.” She nodded in the direction a glowing Johan had gone, wherever Judai surely was. “I’ve seen your mers and they’re good mers so you’ve done pretty well and I’m proud of you.” Her vibrant, sky blue eyes were striking in the dark waters. She seemed equal parts amused and gentle.

Edo smirked at him, the silver of his tail flashing as it happily flicked back and forth. “Little prickly there, aren’t you?”

Ryou rounded his teal glare on the silver mer. “You think you’re funny, don’t you?”

“I know I am,” Edo smiled innocently.

Reggie playfully rolled her eyes, aware of what was happening in front of her, “Stop antagonizing him.” Edo looked cheeky until Reggie continued, “You two can flirt later.”

Both Ryou and Edo flinched, the black mer with the dark purple fins opened his mouth to defend himself but closed it at the smug look in Reggie’s blue eyes. The silver mer flushed instead and stuttered something out about going to find Johan and Judai before dashing out of there.

They watched him leave and Ryou cleared his throat once he was gone. He held out a hand with a simple gold chain and a rose quartz stone hanging in the middle. He wasn’t very good at this stuff, but he thought it would be a pretty piece to give her. “In return for your gift from before.”

She smiled and took it, glancing at the necklace she’d given him that he still wore. “It’s lovely, thank you.”

Ryou watched her put it on, proud that he’d made something she liked. She was intimidating, as another pod leader and one with more experience than him, and having her come here while stressful, was good for him because that way he could talk to someone else about the position he’s in.

“If you’re here, who did you leave in charge of the pod?” He had to ask, because it’s not like she’d really leave her pod unattended while on leave like that.

She winked, “My little brother, David. He might become the pod leader one day.” She knew though, that he must currently be struggling with the pups in their pod since she told them to mess with her brother after she left. She knew Jim would be amused and would just watch the chaos happen, and she also knew they’d be ok without her for a day. “He might not, but I’m sure he’s fine.” She watched as it looked like he was thinking hard about something. “Do you have anyone set up in case you ever need to go somewhere?”

The longer Ryou thought, the more his fins seemed to droop. Because Fubuki was the only answer that kept coming up since Sho was still too young, but he was sure that wouldn’t end well. Maybe Asuka? Ryou shook his head, “I’ll have to think about that later.”

Reggie swam around him once. “Well come on now, show me around and ask me all the questions you got.”

* * *

“So, Manjyome and Asuka are together now, right?” Johan asked, after he and Judai met up. They kissed softly, then pulled apart, seeing the way Sho, Asuka, and Manjyome had stared at them. The soulmates grinned and well, that was that. They swam away from them, content to have their own little time at Judai’s pod, where he showed him around a bit.

Judai hummed. “I guess? I hadn’t really noticed anything.”

He hadn’t noticed the silver chain bracelet with the obsidian stone in the middle that Asuka wore.

Johan shook his head, figuring as much. Judai only seemed to be attentive to a few things and romance didn’t seem to be one of them. Johan was lucky they were soulmates, then. “I’m happy for them.”

“Me too,” Judai replied, now that he thought about it. He showed Johan around and at some point they met up with Edo, who looked a little flushed and asked where Judai’s friends were, so they could hang out and let the two of them have their moment.

“I’ll be leaving soon,” Judai said, as the two swam side by side in an empty part of the pod.

Johan knew this was coming, knew that their adventure together from before was only the prelude to what would be Judai’s life now that he was of age. “Do you know where to?”

Judai shook his head, his ear fins twitching this way and that. “Not quite, but lately I’ve been doing some digging and I want to go to places that show up in stories first.”

“I think that’s a great first step,” his blue mer replied, “Do you know when you’re leaving?”

“Probably in a couple weeks, at most.” They were both of age now, with several months passing since the first time they met.

“And you’ll be careful, right?”

“You know I will be.”

They hugged again, talking about their pods and what their plans were in their immediate futures.

Eventually it came time for Reggie to gather her podmates and head out with them. Ryou looked a lot calmer and more sure of himself after spending a day talking with her. She made him promise he’d come visit her sometime too. Edo and Ryou caught each other staring and quickly looked away.

Johan and Judai held hands as they said goodbye. No one said anything when Judai kissed him, or when Johan smiled into the kiss. They were all happy for them, though. Even Manjyome and Asuka, who were into the courting process. Asuka looked happy, and Manjyome was happier than ever, even his fins seemed softer now.

Reggie and Edo left first, and Johan and Judai shared one more kiss before Johan left too.

They knew it would be a while before they saw each other again.

* * *

“Hey Johan, come help me with the pups,” Edo asked, as he bumped into his podmate.

The blue mer had just returned from a hunting trip and had left the food with a few in their pod who were sick and couldn’t go out hunting this week.

“Sure thing.” Johan replied, swimming over to him. He’d grown a bit more, in the last few months, the last of the growth spurts as his maturity completed. His tail was longer and thicker, his ruffled fins were absolutely beautiful in the dark ocean, the way the light caught on his shades of blue was stunning. He was faster and stronger than before, his hair had grown some too, but Edo had trimmed it once it got too long so it only looked like it grew a little bit. His smile was as gentle as always and the aura around him was magnetic to mers and marine life alike.

Jim was out with Karen and David, searching for something Reggie wanted and she was happily running things, as warm and genial as always.

The silver mer had recently decided to be a hunter half the time, and watch the pups the other half. He refused to admit how much he liked it, despite the pups sometimes being total nightmares. They were still cute though. Edo had also maybe sort of started something with Ryou, which was interesting and Johan saw coming a mile away. Things had changed, and yet, things had stayed exactly the same, too.

Just as Johan started following Edo towards the pups, he noticed he started glowing. A glow he hadn’t seen since back at Judai’s pod.

He lit up electric blue, with a few more markings than he had before, all lighting up, bright and beautiful.

“Oh,” he said, looking down at his hands before smiling and looking up, seeing a tiny pinprick of fluorescent pink in the distance.

Edo put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. “Nevermind about the pups.” And with a smile, he was off.

Johan didn’t notice the way the other nearby mers also gave him some privacy.

“Johan!” came that familiar voice.

It took a few seconds for another mer to collide with Johan as their arms wrapped around each other while they spun in the water. A red mer who was also a little bigger now but a still smaller than Johan, with stronger and sharper-looking fins. With hair a little more flat than before, a little longer too. With that same fun-loving smile, and the adventurous aura. With the stunning reds that cut through the ocean with a sense of purpose and power.

“Judai!”

They were hugging now, and kissing soon after. Judai’s arms were wrapped around Johan, while the other had a hand cupping his cheek, bringing him in closer.

They kissed softly, sweetly, full of love, as they slowly pulled apart, but stayed close together, having gone months without seeing each other.

Oh, but their bond kept them knowing the other was safe and sound. The other was happy, and they were patiently waiting until they’d see each other again.

And now here Judai was, returning from his trip. He had so much to tell Johan.

“I’m home.”

Because he had his pod and he’d still return to it, but because his home was also here, with his soulmate, with Johan.

“Welcome home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I FINISHED!!!  
> THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO STUCK WITH ME TILL THE END.  
> I had such a hard time writing this last chapter adlkfsd anyone who follows my twitter, I'm sorry lol  
> Thank you to all the support too!! I couldn't have done it without all the motivation you all were wonderful enough to give me!  
> Shoutout to everyone who helped me with this fic!! Y'all know who you are and you're lovely <3  
> I have a [twitter](https://twitter.com/gummyrubi)/[tumblr](https://chocomonki.tumblr.com), so come talk to me about this ship!! I also have a ko-fi if anyone's curious and it's linked on my twit/tumblr.  
> Gosh, I can't believe I finished lolol  
> I deviated so many times from my sticky note with the outline on it (seriously lol) and here we are!  
> Now I can focus on other fics for these two!!!  
> Thanks again for reading!!! <3


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